A peek into my process

Services

Sep 27

Every single freelance designer, studio or agency has their own offerings, style and way of working. HOW are you supposed to know if their process will work for you? I want to help give you an idea of what it’s really like to work together before you even reach out, because we all want to save time and energy, right?

Keep reading and I’ll walk you through each of the offerings I provide.

Day Rates

Consultation Call

During our consultation call we’ll discuss your exact design needs to make sure I can offer you the right solution, and I’ll also go over the expectations for the client during these types of design sessions. Day rates are designated chunks of time where I’m working solely on your project, so in order to make sure you’re satisfied with your designs by the end of the session, you must be available to review and provide feedback either via email or Zoom DURING the session. So when you’re booking your time, keep your availability in mind. Day rates aren’t the best solution for everyone, so I’ll be honest if I don’t think it’s the right fit.

Onboarding & PReparation

If we do decide to work together, I will send you a booking link where you can schedule your day rate and pay the 50% deposit, followed by a service agreement for you to review and sign. Next, the preparation begins! To make sure that the scheduled time is as productive as possible, I’ll need things like your brand guidelines, copy, photos, assets, or login information at least two days ahead.

During the Session

During the Day Rate, we will start with a Zoom call to review your priorities for the day and both of us can ask any remaining questions. Then I will begin designing, and usually take about an hour or so to provide the first round of designs to review. I’ll email you the designs and continue working while I wait for your feedback, and we will repeat this back and fourth until the end of the session. When we’re done, I’ll send over the final design files and provide any recorded tutorials or last notes needed, followed by your final 50% invoice.

Many clients book day rates on an ongoing basis as more design needs come up if they aren’t quite ready to hire a designer on retainer, and sometimes the projects can be divided into multiple day rates to allow more time for review and feedback.

Web Design & Branding Projects

Consultation Call

During our call I’ll explain the two website design services I offer, the Four Week Website and the Website in a Day. Which one is right for you will depend on the functionality you need, the amount of content you have, your budget, your timeline and your decision-making style. We will take the time to go over each of these things as well as my branding add-on to decide which option is best for you.

Onboarding & PReparation

Just like Day Rates, the next step is sending your contract & invoice to lock in your project dates. Then I will follow up with a custom project portal that has your pre-project items to complete and outlines the full schedule of the day or weeks we’ll be working together. The preparation work includes a filling out a brand questionnaire, a content outline, collecting brand assets and photos, creating a Pinterest inspiration board and determining the domain name purchasing or transferring plan. The prep work is due the Friday before the project begins.

During the project

We start each project with a kick-off call and finish the last day with a wrap-up call, and in between I record all of my design presentations and email you with a link to watch. I prefer to send the presentations this way so that you have the flexibility to watch when you are free and can watch multiple times if needed, and you don’t feel the pressure to respond right away directly to me. I also provide the presentation in a PDF document, and then give a link to fill out a feedback form in the project portal that helps guide you in case you aren’t sure what kind of notes to give. Below I’ve broken down what the high-level schedule looks like for these projects.

Branding Add-On

* If selected, the branding add-on is is always scheduled before the website project

Pre-Project: Client fills out brand questionnaire and provides inspiration mood board on Pinterest
Week 1 - Kick-off call, Style Assessment presentation & Logo design presentation #1
Week 2 - Address feedback in Logo presentation #2, address feedback & present final logo designs
Post-project: Export & send final designs and brand guidelines

Four Week Website

Pre-Project: Client fills out questionnaire, creates Pinterest board, collects photos & brand assets, and fills out content outline
Week 1: Kick-off call and Style presentation
Week 2: Copy due & Wireframe presentation
Week 3: SEO questionnaire due & desktop website built in Squarespace
Week 4: Final copy & design edits, design refined for mobile & tablet, SEO and any tech setup, user testing & wrap up call
Post-project: Record & send editing tutorials to client, and take website live at a later date if needed

Website in a Day

Pre-Project: Client fills out questionnaire, creates Pinterest board, collects photos & brand assets, and fills out content outline
On the Scheduled Day:
- Kick-off call first thing
- Mini Style & Wireframe Presentation
- Client Feedback
- Squarespace setup
- Present website
- Client Feedback
- Design edits
- Test user flows & devices
- Basic SEO and backend setup
- Final review meeting
- Record & send tutorials

Design Retainer

The design drafting and review process for this type of service will depend a lot on the client, but I will always schedule a set number of hours on specific days of the week to complete the design work. The agreed upon hours should have pre-planned tasks so that I know what I’m doing before the hours begin, as we don’t want to be wasting or losing time. It can take a few weeks to get into a groove but we will always keep open communication using the client’s preferred method (I’m open to email, Slack or task management software but I don’t do texting for work). My goal is to have low turnover with retainer clients so new spots don’t open up very often, but it’s always good to keep in touch if you’re interested!

If you’d like to get in touch about your project, head to the Inquiry Form Here to get started and I’ll follow up to schedule a consultation call!