Ash’s Design Process

Ash's Design Process: We discuss your requirements.

1 We discuss your requirements.
This could be a video or voice call, a face-to-face meeting (if you’re based in South Africa, or have a biiiig budget), or simply a few quick emails or messaging chats.

Ash's Design Process: I quote you.

2 I quote you.
Depending on the complexity of the project, at this stage I might need to provide some initial ideas on the direction I recommend taking. (When you approve this, 50% of the quote is due). Your quote might be a once-off set fee, or if the project is more complex, it might require a longer term retainer-based arrangement to realize your goal – I will advise you on the most effective way to complete your project excellently.

3 I present a concept.
At this point, I will provide a PDF concept of the website or design, which will show the visual direction I recommend taking. It will show you 2 or 3 key pages in the case of a website. I discuss this concept with you and make refinements and changes based on your feedback.

Ash's Design Process: I present a concept.
Ash's Design Process: I begin to build.

4 I begin to build.
At this point I will begin building the website based on the approved concept. This will be on a staging site, and I will send preview links for you to review progress as we reach milestones.

5 I present a working site preview.
This will be the website presented on a staging website for you to browse through. The concept is already approved at this stage, so you’re not going to be changing the look-and-feel or direction of the site at this stage – you are going to be giving feedback on specifics and details. Some aspects can’t be communicated in a static PDF in step 3, and these are the items to discuss at this point – animations, transitions, and other page-layout issues that may have arisen.

Ash's Design Process: I present a working site preview.
Ash's Design Process: We go live. Ash's Design Process: We go live.

6 We go live.
After edits based on your feedback from step 5, the website is ready to go live. I will take it live for the world to see. (The remaining 50% of the fee is due before the site goes live).

Ash's Design Process: Marketing.

7 Marketing.
More than ever, a website can’t be put up and left there. There’s over 1.9 billion websites out there; you need a plan to get people to your site. I can advise you and put together a plan to get ‘feet through the door’ of your new website based on the budget you’d like to assign to this crucial aspect. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is vital today – I can help with SEO strategy, as well as Google Ads, and ads on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.