1. Objectives and Goals
What do you want from this design? Is it a redesign or reworking of an existing design, or is it a completely new design? Do you already have solid ideas for what you want it to look like or are your ideas more vague?
Nailing down what your goals are is important to creating a design that you’ll be satisfied with. After all, you’ll approach a design that’s meant to raise awareness or educated differently from one that’s meant to specifically sell a product or service.
2. Budget and Schedule
Budget can be a touchy subject for some people. Some people feel like if they share their budget before the quote, they’ll be overcharged or be charged the maximum amount.
Please understand that by knowing ahead of time what kind of budget you have to work with, we can tailor the services to give you the most benefit for you money.
Schedule is almost as important as budget. Good design takes time, it’s not just a matter of creating a pretty picture.
You may have certain deadlines that you want to meet, because of events happening within your company or industry. Maybe you have an upcoming product launch or trade show you need to be ready for. It’s important to let us know why you want things to fit within a certain schedule and whether that schedule is flexible or not.
We will be realistic with you about both your budget and schedule needs. If we know we can’t do something within a certain budget or schedule, we will tell you up front. Sometimes we can offer alternative solutions.
3. Target Audience
Who are you trying to reach? A product designed for teenagers is going to look a bit different than one designed for corporate decision-makers. It is helpful to know who you want to appeal to right from the beginning.
I’m sure you have an idea of who buys your products or uses your services. Who is your ideal customer? Describe those people, even if there’s more than one. It’s our job to create something that appeals to more than one demographic.
4. Project Scope
Sometimes, a project scope is obvious from the goals of a project, but sometimes it’s not. The more clear you can be from the beginning the better. Whether you want a completely custom solution or to adapt an existing template. Maybe you want an entire ecommerce site with a shopping cart, or a brochure that gives basic company information.
5. Available Materials
Do you already have a logo, brochure, product photos, or other materials that would be useful to your design? Looking at your existing promotional materials can shed valuable insight into what your design taste is and priorities are.
6. Overall Style
Getting a sense of what you want in terms of style is vital. You may have a grunge design in mind when we’re picturing something clean and modern (or vice versa). You probably have very distinct likes and dislikes. But it’s hard to express what your tastes are verbally.
Bring in examples of designs you like and designs you don’t like, even if they’re the designs of your competitors. That can give us valuable insight into what direction to start heading.
