Graphic Design Brief

So, you have decided you need a new website design. You have done your research and picked a website developer (like us). Now it’s time to design it. No matter whether it is a brand-new website or a re-design, there are certain aspects that your graphic designer will want to discuss with you before the project starts. All website development should begin with a graphic.  Sounds simple, right? A graphic designer works hand in hand with you on all graphics required in order to paint a clear picture of your new website before any development begins. By completing a graphic design brief, you will know exactly how your new website looks before the developers builds and this can eliminate multiple problems down the road.

There may be so many ideas floating around in your head about how you want your website to look and what you want it to do, before your design consultation.  It is always a good idea to jot these ideas down and even draw a quick sketch of how you would like it to look (This is of course if you know!)

7 areas to consider before your graphic design consultation:

• Business description. What does your business do? If any member of the public landed on your site by accident would they know by the first glance what services/ products you are offering?
• Target market. Who do you want your website to appeal to? Do you have a target demographic for your customer? If you answered no to either of the above questions you may need to go and do some research!
• Logo & colour scheme. Your colour scheme will normally be centred around your logo colours with highlights of contrasting colours for buttons and call to actions. If you have strong branding colours you will need to have these ready for your design process, alternatively if you don’t have colours or don’t like them its time to get colour picking! All websites need a logo and if you have one that your happy with, we will need a high-resolution version of your logo to begin designing. The same rule as your colour scheme applies here if you don’t like your logo now is the time to create a new one.
• Homepage layout. You may have a very clear idea of what you want on your homepage or you may not have a clue! Regardless of this you will need to go and do your homework, what are your competitors doing? Are you missing a vital piece of information for your industry? Think carefully about the content and don’t try to fit your entire website on to the home page.
• Website pages/Menu. For an eCommerce the menu structure will be easily laid out by your product categories, but what other easily accessible information do you want? Some of the top menu items could include: Contact us, About Us, Meet the Team, Get a Quote, Blog, Special Offers, Testimonials to name but a few. Of course, these wont all fit on your menu so you will need to decide on what is important. Another thing you can do at this stage is to start to write your website content and collect all the information you will need to add to these pages. Many clients will put this particular task off – find out why that isn’t a good idea in our blog The Confessions of a Procrastinator
• Suitable imagery. There are many online sources for generic imagery but is that the first impression you want to make on your customers? Getting professional photos of team members, services & products for your business will stand to you in the long term. These can be used, not only on your website, but for marketing your business after the website launch.
• Websites that provide inspiration. Do your homework. Look at what your competitors are doing. Not only what they are doing well but what they could do better and overtake them! As soon as you know you are getting a new website, pay more attention to the websites that you use all the time. Note what you like and what you don’t what is easy to use and what isn’t. Most importantly which one led to a good customer experience?

Need some ideas? Have a look at the Dmac Media Web Design Porfolio