everything you need to know about your website design experience with Gillian Sarah
Welcome to Gillian Sarah
Gillian
We are SO thankful that you have decided to trust us with your website and can not wait to start bringing your dream to life.
Before we start on the fun stuff, we have some housekeeping to do. We know that a website project can feel overwhelming, but take a deep sigh of relief. We are experts at this! Our hope is that this guide will answer most of the questions you have for us as we start this project. Questions like: “What does the process look like?” and “How do I give helpful feedback?” and so much more. If you have any additional questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Gillian | Gillian Sarah
The Design Process
By now, you should have a pretty good idea what the process looks like, but here is a little refresher. Your website project consists of three primary stages. Discovery, Creation, and Implementation + Launch.
discover
So you’ve decided to take the plunge? Congratulations! The discovery process starts with an initial “brand-storm” session taking place in a local coffee shop or over the internet. While a lot of our clients love talking over a Zoom meeting, most are happy to communicate through email. Here is where we listen to your dreams, talk you through the process and decide if we will be a good fit.
After the initial meeting, we invite you to our client management system and send you instructions to get started on your homework! Once your homework questionnaire is completed, we put together a visual mood board for your website.
create
implement
01.
02.
03.
This is where the magic happens! After the discovery phase is completed, we use the mood board as a reference to start working on your concept development.
This is where we will build out a home page design for your website and present it to you via an in-depth concept presentation through video. Once presented, we revise until perfect! Once approved, we will put together the rest of your website based on the styling and design of the home page so that everything is cohesive and gels together really well!
As the project is nearing end, we pick a launch date and start developing a launch strategy. During this time, we take a few days to get your hosting set-up (it's not scary, I'll walk you through it) and make sure everything is connected properly before we launch.
When completed, you will have a clear and effective website that will help to attract your ideal client.
Payments
In order to reserve a web design slot, we require a 15% non-refundable deposit. While we are happy to launch your website before the payment plan has been completed, please note that the design copyright is held by us until the final payment is made. Your contract will go over this in more detail. All of our payment plans are completely interest free and can be taken out on a 2, 3, or 6 month plan.
For your convenience, all payments are made easily online through our client management system.
The One Concept Approach
The One Concept approach is the method we use to present our design concepts to our clients. The One Concept Method choses the strongest out of all ideas and presents it in a way that is thorough and refined.
During the design phase, we explore dozens of potential concepts for you. In the past, we have found that presenting multiple concepts can often lead to confusion and subjectivity.
Since we are all about clarity here, we now work by narrowing down all of the different concepts into the one that serves as the strongest solution for your brand. We then dive deep into it’s presentation so that you can gain further insight into our vision and application ideas for the designs. Your concept presentation will not just include your website, but will include reasoning behind the design choices. We have found that this helps us both to approach your new website from a holistic, big picture standpoint.
We have had such great results using the one concept approach and truly believe that it is the best way to develop a website with both intention and clarity.
What if my project is taking longer than the timeline says?
The tricky thing about design is that sometimes the perfect design solution comes quickly, but other times it takes exploring dozens of ideas. With design, you just don’t know quite how long it will take to find the “perfect” solution for you. Countless hours can be poured into custom fonts or assets, only to finish them and realise they aren’t the best fit for your brand. We never send concepts (or any portion of the design process) until we feel like they are an amazing fit for our clients, even if it takes a little bit of extra work on our end. It will be worth the wait, we pinky promise.
With that being said, if any portion of the design process is taking longer than the sample timeline above, we try our best to keep our clients updated. Feel free to shoot us an email for status updates at any time during the design process.
Timeline
Web design projects typically take 6-8 weeks. Depending on the required functions, projects may take longer.
SETTING THE MOOD AND TONE
HOME PAGE DEVELOPMENT
HOME PAGE PRESENTATION
HOME PAGE REVISIONS
WEBSITE DESIGN
FINAL FORMATTING
(2-4 business days)
(10-15 business days)
(This part of the project can take anywhere from 2 days to a couple of weeks depending on the scope of the revisions)
(5-10 business days)
(10 business days)
WEBSITE DESIGN PRESENTATION
HOME PAGE REVISIONS
(This part of the project can take anywhere from 2 days to a couple of weeks depending on the scope of the revisions)
LAUNCH PREP
(5 business days)
IT'S LAUNCH TIME!
communication
Most client communication will take place via email. You can reach us by emailing info@gilliansarah.com Monday through Friday between the hours of 8am and 5pm (BST). Because we value our clients and our own rest hours, we typically stay out of our inbox on the evenings and weekends.
During the branding process, hopping on the phone or Zoom may be necessary to go over concepts or chat revisions.
Because we book our projects around estimated timelines, we kindly ask that you give feedback within 3 business days, as we really don't want to lose momentum on your project. We understand that sometimes things come up and sometimes it may take additional time to go over your designs. In that case, please let us know via email.
EMAIL:
OFFICE HOURS:
M-F | 8-5 (BST)
How to Give Helpful Feedback
It’s no secret that the feedback stage isn’t exactly the most fun part of your design project. Honest feedback is important, but sometimes sharing your thoughts can seem daunting. Here we will give you some of our tricks into giving us feedback that is helpful, honest and kind.
keep your audience in mind
When presenting us feedback it is important that first and foremost, you keep your audience top of mind. Instead of explaining what you like and don’t like, look at the designs from your ideal clients’ eyes. What would they think about the font choice? The layout? The colour palette? Let us know if something may not appeal well to your audience and provide some insight into why you think that.
01.
BAD FEEDBACK:
GOOD FEEDBACK:
“I don’t like the typeface.”
“I think that the typeface may be too fun and quirky for our older, professional audience. A more sophisticated font may appeal more to our demographic. What do you think?”
DESIGN IS A COLLABORATION
Chances are, you chose us for a reason. Whether you were obsessed with our portfolio or valued our expertise; you chose us because we know a few things that you don’t when it comes to design. It is important that you value our knowledge and collaboratively ask for our feedback and to listen to our insight.
Inevitably, there will be some sort of revisions or changes that need to be made. If you spot a problem or are concerned with certain elements, we want to know about them! Instead of sending us a to-do list of changes to make, share your concerns and let us come up with a solution.
02.
BAD FEEDBACK:
GOOD FEEDBACK:
“Make the logo thicker and larger.”
“I am concerned that there is not enough contrast between the logo and the background and that it may be hard for our clients to read. Is there a way to fix that?”
ask questions
Clients often do not ask questions for two reasons; fear of feeling silly, or for fear of being annoying. As your designer, it is our job to make sure you feel confident with the choices being made and we are happy to answer any questions you have for us throughout the process. Asking questions creates dialogue and shows us that you value our opinion. Asking thoughtful questions also allows us to further explain the head space behind why we made the decisions that we made, which often leads to an overall greater understanding and appreciation of the work.
03.
BAD FEEDBACK:
GOOD FEEDBACK:
“I don’t like the terracotta colour you used.”
“It’s important that the colour palette is strong. I love the sage colour you used! We aren’t quite sure about the terracotta colour yet - What were your thoughts behind choosing that colour?“
BE NICE (BUT HONEST)
Trust us when we say that as your designers, it is SO important to us that you love your project. We want you walk away from our time together confident and excited about your new branding and if you don’t feel confident about an aspect of your branding, that is perfectly okay! Just let us know while we still have time to fix it.
With that being said, don’t forget that we are people too and that creativity is deeply personal. We put our heart and soul into each and every project. Putting our work out for feedback is always a vulnerable and scary process. So please, be honest. But don’t forget to be kind too!
04.
BAD FEEDBACK:
GOOD FEEDBACK:
“This is just missing the mark for me.”
“Thank you so much for all of your hard work! The color palette is perfect and we love that floral illustration. The logo is beautiful, but I am not sure if it is the best fit for the client we would like to attract. Could we set up a time to talk on the phone about revisions? Thanks again for all of your hard work!”
Social Media
It’s no secret that social media is a huge asset for small businesses. Here at Gillian Sarah, it is how most of our clients find us! We love to share behind the scenes, outtakes and works in progress during our client projects. Not only does this help to attract future clients, but it often brings excitement and even some new fans to you and your work!
If you do not feel comfortable with us sharing your project before it launches, that is fine with us. We just ask that you let us know now so that we know to keep your project top secret until you are ready to share!
FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM
@gilliansarahdesign
Roles & Responsibilities
Your website designer is in charge of:
9 Ensuring your site meets its intended purpose
Ensuring the site functions correctly / has no
errors
Testing device responsitivity on Chrome
Making considered design decisions
Optimising your site and imagery
Using website best practices
Integrating plugins and third party platforms
Researching appropriate design styles
Styling with custom coding
Considering your target audience at every turn
Meeting set deadlines
Implementing your feedback / refinements
Integrating your branding and photography
Connecting your domain to your website
YOU ARE IN CHARGE OF:
Letting the designer know your intended
purpose for the site
Identifying/explaining who your target audience
is
Ensuring the designer gets content from other
service providers you are using
Project management for anything outside the
website
Providing finalised content by the start date
Writing/proofreading and spell checking your
content
Purchasing your domain name and custom
email
Providing correct external/social links
Being timely and clear with communication and
feedback
Providing all branding files (if not created by
the same studio)
Purchasing and managing your domain/hosting
Final sign off on site
Your website designer is NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR:
Proofreading or spellchecking content
Setting up third party accounts (like Mailchimp)
Working out who the target audience is
Sourcing images for the site
Writing the content
Managing the client’s time
Managing any other service providers
Setting up newsletters / funnels / sales strategies
Website domain or email hosting purchases
24/7 support/being on call at a moments notice
YOU ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR:
Designing the website
Integrating plugins or third party platforms into
your site
Knowing how to custom code
Implementing SEO / Google Analytics
Creating page layouts
Knowing website / design best practices
Connecting your domain / advanced settings
Styling your site with your branding
Fixing something that isn’t working on the site
within the project timeline*
7 best practices for Content Preparation
set a launch date
Have a set date you want to launch your website
around, such as a big event or holiday period? Great!
This means you can plan out and consider what needs
to be done between now and your deadline to ensure
you can launch on time. Besides just your copy, you
may need branding, imagery, graphics, sales funnel s
and more! So make sure to factor in all these things
when preparing your content and setting your deadline
as you’ll be in charge of managing each of these areas
to get your designer the content they need.
Manage & Prioritise
Take Ownership
01.
02.
03.
Investing in a website project isn’t just financial, it’s a
time investment too! You will need to prioritise time to
prepare your content and also consider adding extra
editing / feedback time if working with a copywriter /
photographer. It’s also beneficial to schedule in your
website content prep around times you can be involved
to avoid delaying the process (like taking a holiday
mid-prep, or being out of reception when you are
needed for feedback input!). Your designer (unless
specified) is not your personal time manager or project
manager so it is up to you to manage your time and
prioritise any work needed on your end.
You are investing your hard earned money, time and
energy in your designer’s services, so you can rest
easy knowing they will take full ownership over the
design and build of your website (your project success
is their priority!). But your input doesn’t stop at paying
the invoice. Your engagement in YOUR project is also
crucial to website success and can only be achieved if
you put in the ground work to ensure it. Note down start
dates, read about the process and expectations, reply
to emails and communicate clearly if you get stuck /
need help / have to delay or something comes up.
Start Early
As soon as you sign on to work with a designer,
they will typically send you out any homework and
questionnaires necessary for the website design well in
advance of your start date. So although you have until
the start date to provide me with the finalised content,
it is highly recommended to make a start on it well in
advance to save a mad scramble on your end a day
before this first milestone.
Ask Questions
Proof & Check
04.
05.
06.
Unsure what content to provide even with the
questionnaire prompts? Ask for clarification! The worst
thing you can do is decide not to provide something or
only write a draft and then only bring it up on the start
date. This can cause delays and undue stress so it’s
best to reach out.
Your designer may ask you to provide login details for
certain platforms if they need to be integrated, or you
may need to add links into your copy that go to other
sites etc. It is good practice to proof, check and double
proof anything you send - ensuring login details are
correct and links are going to the correct destination.
Provide everything
07.
As a bit of a spoiler to what content is needed from you
- it’s basically everything and anything you want on
the site! You as the client are in charge of providing all
content-related material needed on the site, including
wording, imagery, links, embed codes if you need
to embed a scheduler etc, call to action button text,
anything related to copywriting, SEO descriptions and
so on. Your designer is charge of the design (unless
otherwise stated) and ensuring the site functions as it
should.
content guidelines
Below we have listed the “standard” items required for pages. This will of course vary slightly per each website design and will depend on your business.
Grab the content checklist here
How to share your content
The best way to provide us with your content is to create a folder titled with your website name in Google Drive. Share this folder with us at info@gilliansarah.com. Inside your folder create a folder for each required page and add your content directly to these using Google docs and image uploads.
folder structure EXample:
GILLIAN SARAH WEBSITE
brand information
home page
about page
services page
portfolio page
blog page
contact page
collaboration page
miscellaneous
please note: not all of these pages will be required for YOUR website. These are just examples given.
Tips for preparing and sending content
File Resolution
Look to keep your images between 200kb-5mb*
max.
If you can’t make them smaller, please keep under
25mb so your designer can optimise them with some
thing like Tiny png.
*Note: It can vary depending on what the image/file
is being used for. For example a large banner image
could afford to be a little bigger/high-resolution (in the
3-4mb range) where as a thumbnail image could be
smaller (in the 300-500kb range).
PDF docs should be less than 5mb
File Type
Image Size / Ratio
01.
02.
03.
PNG or JPG for images, and PDF for files.
PNG is a good choice for line drawings, text, and
iconic graphics at a small file size.
JPG is a good choice for photographs and realistic
images.
PDF is for sharing documents that cannot be modified
but still need to be easily shared, downloaded, read
and printed.
Please do not send Word docs to be uploaded to the
site, or the TIFF file format.
Good practices to follow:
If the image needs to be a banner, try - 16:9 or 1920px
h x 1080px w.
If the image needs to go on the page, try - 3:2 or
something like 800px x 600px. Your designer can then
crop in if the image needs to be square, but it just
gives them padding to play with.
A4 landscape or portrait will work best for PDF
documents you’d like people to read online or
download. A3/A5 etc might not have the desired effect
for reading but would work if the purpose is to just
print the file.
Naming
Use a consistent and thoughtful file naming
convention that makes sense for the project and
where the image/file will go.
Examples of good naming conventions:
About_banner_gilliansarah.jpg
Images in a gallery (if wanting in order) - 1_James_
gallery.jpg, 2_Laurel_gallery.jpg etc
Bad examples:
560nsn94dhs.jpg
Final_FINAL_2_revised.jpg
image (no extension)
Style
Folders
04.
05.
06.
Good practices to follow:
Stick to images that aren’t too complex/layered/
intricate if you want text to go over top (like a page
title).
Choose images that aren’t overused/can be identified
as stock right away.
Give the focal point of the image a lot of room so your
site can respond to different device sizes and not crop
anything out.
If your image needs a transparent background, you’ll
need to get this clear cut BEFORE sending the image.
Good practices to follow:
Add chosen images or files to folders on Google Drive
or Dropbox that make sense, like a folder for Home
images, and a folder for just About page images.
Name the folder so it corresponds to the page or
section titles. If it is something different or vague it
can be hard to decipher where you want the images
places.
Only add FINALISED images/files to your folders. Do
not add anything that is a draft/double up/not 100%
an image you’d like on the site.
The Tools We Use
Learning new systems can be overwhelming, which is why we like to keep things simple. All of the platforms that we use were chosen because they are straightforward and easy for our clients to understand.
As we mentioned previously, email is our primary form of communication during the branding process! All presentations, revisions and feedback will be submitted through email.
zoom
We use Zoom if an in-person meeting is needed at any portion of the design process. We love Zoom because it feels like a virtual coffee date. Zoom also allows us to easily share our screens with one another, which makes giving feedback a breeze!
DUBSADO
Our client management system. All invoices, contracts and questionnaires will be sent through Dubsado and you can view all of your project documents in your unique Dubsado client portal at any time.
Google Drive
We love using Google Drive to receive your website content. With their live documents it means we will both always have the same version of your work and if there are any questions we can highlight the exact section we with to discuss without getting lost or confused.
Thank you!
Gillian
Thank you SO much for trusting us with your website build. We are honoured to be the ones to help to bring your dream to life! We are excited for our collaboration and can’t wait to dig into the visuals. Please feel free to reach out with any additional questions!