The Design Workflow Process

Ay project begins with a discussion to establish the parameters, schedule and cost. As regards estimates and quotes, any specific project has alternative ways of doing it which may involve more or less time, effort and outside costs. Every project has steps Phase One through Phase Six and before Phase Five there may be mulitple creative and presentation phases. These are discussed and agreed upon in Pre-Phase.

Some projects may take very little time. A client may call up and say that the trade show daily is giving a free quarter page ad and it needs to be there tomorrow morning.

In our phone discussion I suggest that we use a photograph of the product that we used in the newsletter, a headline, some bullet points, a single line call to action and the logo. It will take an 2.5 hours and cost $250.The client says ok. In this case I will not make sketches but take the final copy, layout the ad, show a pdf, there might be one or two comments, maybe rewrite a line or two. Then I make the final pdf and deliver iit first thing in the morning.

This covers every step above and it takes 2.5 hours

Another project, maybe a logo design, it might be new logo for a business, or for a product, a user group meeting or a sales kick-off. Each of these projects are different as regards the type of logo needed and the available budget. In the pre-phase we discuss and define the parameters, schedule and cost. For the Sales kick off there might be a budget of $500.00. This logo will be used once for an inside event, it takes a couple of hours and involves one or two ideas may be sketched up. We discuss them, I make a revised sketch, show the client, its accepted, and I create the final logo. The whole process might take me 5 hours and I deliver a vector graphic file, a jpg and maybe a gif.

The marcom production manager, using the files I delivered gets the logo printed on shirts, on a binder cover, distributesfor use in MSW and PowerPoint presentations to be presented at the conference, and perhaps a lobby entrance sign is made. And its never seen again.

On the other hand, the logo for a new company might take considerable longer time, with not just preliminary sketches and a presentation but multiple levels of sketches and presentations with different concepts being developed, explored, compared and evaluated. After the concept is arrived at, the designer may spend many hours working out the final line weights, spacings, etc. And even after the logo is finalized it needs to be applied to letter head, business card etc. as well as signage, maybe company trucks, etc.

In the pre-phase we discuss and define the project and establish the parameters, schedule and price. There are many ways of doing design projects but they all include the above steps. An experienced designer, after listening and some discussion can suggest alternative ways of doing things to get the best results for the budget.

There must be all of these steps above but there are different approachs.

In real life different clients do things differently. Companies are made up of individuals and within a company different individuals have different ways of working, different strengths, different objective, and the designer needs to design the project work flow to work best with the individual strengths of the client. It is the quaity of interaction between the designer and client during the creativity/sketching/presentation process that enables creative design ideas to flourish and develop in to effective design solutions.

Every project, big or small, goes throught these steps of discussion, background, creative time, presentation and production time. Production, the time to produce the design, might take more time or less time depending on the design. Designing an ad based on a photograph you give me at the begining takes much less time than if I give you multiple sketches with different ideas for the photograph. And its a different time effort if I use a RF or I create the image, sketch it out and we have a photo shoot where I am there as an art director. The deisgner understanding the limits of the budget, can design within the budget.

Tthe pre-phase discussion is part of the job and part of the time to do the job. When we are discussing I am listening to what you have to say, suggesting different ways of doing the project, explaining the different results and helping you evaluate the best possible methodology based on my experience. There is no menu of standard options with a price for each entre that a client can pick and choose and then add up the bill. The designer and client together through discussion can build the appropriate design solution for the project based on marketing objectives, budget and schedule.

If you are looking for a price quote to shop the job around, I will give you a flat ballpark price range which we would firm up in a pre-phase meeting if we were to do the project together.

Or I will charge you a price for a detailed proposal which will contain a detailed discussion of the project, various design options,a pre- visualize of the whole project, work out the possible creative approaches and suggest thoughtful optional methods and costs structures for a successful design outcome based on solid results.

Steve Naegele