This post was written by Fairy Godmother Cathy Gonsalves, CGONSA Web Design
1.) Select a Compatible Designer- Carefully pick a  professional designer with skills and a portfolio that matches your needs, and style both in design and process. Don’t match yourself up with the wrong designer for you, who’s portfolio does not remotely depict any design style you love, or expect the terms and process to change to accommodate your personal needs. Know the designers terms and the process and expect to stick to them. Don’t sign terms or agree to a process you can’t follow. If there is something you need changed, discuss with the designer upfront for a change.
2.) Know the Plan/Process/Timetable – Know the plan, process, and timetable and expect to stick to it. The designer has a timetable for your project and must stick to it to allow for meeting other contractual agreements right behind your project. Often times with big projects such as web design, your project is the designer only project for your time slot to maintain the highest quality. The designer must keep moving.
3.) Have a Clear Vision - have a solid, clear vision of what you want, and know your goals. Spell it out and be detail oriented. Do not make the designer guess. Provide your designer examples of what you like and don’t like. We must know exactly where we are going before we start.
Don’t expect your project to be a copy or even a close “look and feel†of someone else’s work. Professional designers must abide by copyright law, standards, and ethics in the industry.
Most designers cannot afford to create the vision “as we go along”; this is too inefficient, and costly. After you have provided your detailed vision, do not expect the designer to start over on a different road if you don’t like what you decided. The designer expects to do minor revisions as outlined in their terms and process but not start over. Adding to the project as you go along is generally not something that can be accommodated.
Once you paint a very clear picture of where the designer is to go with your project, allow the designer room to do their thing or you will kill enthusiasm and creativity.
4.) Be Organized. Send your information all together, once if you can, not in a 100 different communications.
5.) Be Available- be available to fully answer questions daily if not more. The more available you are the more input you will have. Your designer has to keep moving but wants you to be involved in decisions that may come up, if you are available, and readily able to answer.
6.) Provide feedback/Input - be prepared to provide positive and negative feedback as you go along. Most designers move through the process in stages and once a stage is complete, they generally don’t work backwards. Designers expect some revisions and certain things may have a limited number of mock-ups. Positive feedback goes a long, long, way!
