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Throughout any creative process, there will be a multitude of questions that arise from the client. I’ve taken the top ten questions that I get asked the most during web design projects and answered them here.
Standing out from the crowd can be difficult in a saturated market. However, a solid brand that has a well-grounded message, identity, and purpose will stand out as genuine. Creating a website and abrand that is easy, accessible, consistent, and trustworthy will help a company reach the top.
Oscar Wilde said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” It’s true, there are plenty of copycats out there. While you may want to replicate the ideas of a competitor that is doing well, you should not copy the look of the design. If you want to be unique in the marketplace, you need to have your own brand identity.
The answer to this depends on the project and how much time is allotted for design.
At Imarc, the process is very thorough, so only showing one design option for web projects is the general rule of thumb. By utilizing techniques in the creative kickoff such as benchmarking sites, discussing brand archetypes, and examining current brand guidelines, one homepage design is sufficient.
If a client does express the desire to see multiple options, taking a step back in the process and creating mood boards can be helpful. Moodboards help everyone understand client likes and dislikes at a high level. The designer can then bring those components into the website design compositions.
Short answer, no. Designers will create styles that can easily be translated by the front-end developer to successfully build additional pages. A designer will tackle the unique pages, i.e. homepage, about us, product pages, news pages, resources, blog, etc. because they typically have different layouts than a standard interior page. Other than that, one interior page design should be sufficient for development to create the remaining pages.
Depending on the project scope, mobile designs may or may not be included in the design process. Even if a mobile design is not requested, rest assured, the designer typically makes a homepage mobile composition for the front-end developer to follow. Clients may also get an idea of the mobile layout in the wireframing stage as some strategists will mock-up mobile wires in their process.
I am more than happy to source imagery for you. I highly recommend creating an image library for your brand. This will help build out your branding components and to allow your brand to have a solid library of assets to choose from in the future. Sourced imagery should reinforce the brand’s look and feel and establish the basis of a brand’s identity.
Yes, of course! Icons can really help a brand’s identity come to life. They can help create a unique experience on a website and set the brand apart from competitors.
Out of all the questions in this list, this is by far the most common. Having a solid, structured timeline will limit the number of times this is asked throughout a project. The answer entirely depends on the agreed-upon timeline.
I have always been open to hearing clients’ opinions on changes and edits to a design. Constructive feedback is definitely preferred as it will help the designer understand why something needs to change and it will help them realize a better solution.
Some people are the “I’ll know it when I see it” type, so asa designer, I’m comfortable showing a couple of variations upon the client’s request. However, it’s important for the client and the designer to understand why they want to see a specific design. In my experience, backing up design decisions with knowledge and good reasoning will really help the client-designer relationship. It’s best for a project manager to be involved to prevent an endless cycle of changes, help set client expectations, and keep everyone on track to meet deadlines.
We all know the saying, “too many cooks in the kitchen.” Having too many people involved in the project can complicate feedback and extend the feedback process longer than necessary. On the other hand, key people – whether it’s the C-level or marketing team – should be involved from the start. Getting these stakeholders involved at the beginning will encourage any concerns to be addressed earlier in the process. Make sure everyone knows the goals and priorities ahead of time so that feedback and opinions are relevant and push the project forward.
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Edited by Kelly Morrison // Originally published on imarc.com
