Every studio claims a process and most of them describe the same four boxes. What follows is ours as it actually runs, including the parts that are less tidy than a diagram would suggest.
Key takeaways
- 01Decisions are made in writing, so they can be revisited without relitigating.
- 02The first week is for disagreement, not for design.
- 03One reviewer with authority beats five with opinions.
- 04Handover is a phase, not an email.
Week one is for arguing
The most expensive projects are the ones where a fundamental disagreement surfaces in week six. So the first week is deliberately uncomfortable: interviews, the lost-deal notes, and a session where the founders are pushed towards one sentence they can all defend.
Nothing visual is produced. That is the point, and it is the part clients find hardest to buy until the second project.
- Interview the people who say no to you, not only the ones who say yes.
- Write the decision down the day it is made.
- Do not open a design tool until the sentence holds.
The work goes quickly once everyone is arguing about the same thing.
Handover is part of the work
A system nobody can apply is a system that will be abandoned. We finish with the team who will use it: a working session, the templates they actually need, and a document written for a Tuesday evening rather than a portfolio.
One considered email a month
Notes on design, brand and the work we ship. No filler, no cadence for its own sake.
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Frequently asked
The questions this piece tends to raise.