The Design Process

Get in touch!

Getting in touch with Martlette is easy!

You are welcome to give me a call, send me a message from the Martlette website or email me with information about your design project. Try to have as much information on hand as possible. Here are a few things you might have ready to tell me about your project:

• What is the nature of your design project? Do you need a logo design, website design, printed publication design or something different?
• What is the nature of your business?
• Do you have a deadline that you need it completed by?
• Do you have any reference images or materials that will help me with your project?
• You may also like to get all of your information down on the one page and send it to me by completing my Creative Brief Questionnaire. The more information you provide me, the better understanding I will have of your project and expectations.

Nice to meet you

The Martlette graphic design studio is located just outside of Melbourne, in Geelong, Victoria. If you are close by, I can arrange to meet face to face either here in the studio or at your place of business.

For those who are located further afield, I can schedule a phone or Skype/Zoom meeting where we can discuss your project in detail. Many of my clients are either interstate or overseas and have enjoyed the same personal service Martlette has become so well known for.

The Creative Brief

Once I have spoken about your design project, it’s time to get all of the briefing information together. You are invited to complete my Creative Brief Questionnaire. The more information you provide me, the better understanding I will have of your project and expectations.

Let’s work together!

With all of the information about your design project on hand, I can now prepare a formal proposal/quotation for your consideration. A Martlette proposal will outline all of the inclusions for your project and my commitment to delivering your project on time and on budget.

You are welcome to contact me with any questions you may have about the process and deliverables outlined in the proposal. I am very happy to clarify any aspect of the proposal if needed, so that we are on the same page moving forward.

If you are happy with the proposal/quotation, your approval should be returned to me so that we can get the ball rolling. You will be send an initial invoice for 50% of the total quoted. Once the deposit payment is received, your project will be scheduled into the studio calendar and started as soon as possible.

Research ideas

Depending on the nature of your design project, the creative process will always begin with an in depth research phase that uncovers creative opportunities to communicate your brand message.

If your design project is a logo, then you can expect this research to be reflected in a Mood Board that will be forwarded to you for review and feedback. A mood board is a document that will outline ideas and inspiration for your logo design, that reflect the ideas discussed with you and the information you have provided in your creative brief.

It helps me. Gathering some ideas and inspiration before I actually start designing your logo can streamline the design process. Your mood board provides a reliable source of information during the creative phase of your logo design project.

It helps you. Your mood board will give you an idea of what design direction I am proposing and provides you with an opportunity to sharpen any concept ideas and provide early feedback to me. It’s a visual representation that helps us both ‘sing from the same song book’.

Once you are happy with the mood board and we have discussed other ideas you may have, I can get started on your logo design concepts.

Design presentation

When I am completely happy with design concepts and confident that I have nailed the brief, I will send you through the first concepts for your review.

As you review each of the designs, try to view them from the perspective of your target audience. Ask yourself:

• What would your target audience think your business represents when viewing this design?
• Does the artwork speak to the age, education, industry sector of your target audience?
• Does the artwork and colour palette speak about your business capabilities and personality?
• If you were to change anything about any of the concepts, what would you change? Colour palette? Artwork elements? Typeface.
• Would you like me to send you concepts that take elements from other concepts and add to another?

Design revisions

Some clients are happy with the first presentation of design concepts and don’t want any changes to their preferred concept, so we can move straight on to finalising the designs.

If you have some feedback about the initial design concepts, I will work closely with you to deliver revised designs that more closely represents your vision and communicates strongly with your target audience. This may include changes to colours, fonts or graphic elements within the design.

My progress throughout the duration of this project will be documented and communicated to you regularly, so that you are kept updated.

As a guide, Martlette is happy to provide 3-4 rounds of changes for designs without additional charge. However, I do not like to strictly limit rounds of changes as it can limit opportunities of working towards a design that you are 100% happy with. With that in mind, I am more than happy to provide a reasonable number of changes if needed and within the scope of the original brief.

Approval and completion

Once you are 100% happy with your final design, artwork files will be prepared and finalised for the relevant output (ie. Digital and/or print files).

A final invoice for the remaining 50% of the quoted amount will be issued, with payment requested before final files can be released to you.

If we have designed a logo for you, all print and web ready logo artwork files and a comprehensive brand style guide will be sent to you on USB and via weblink to a shared folder (either dropbox or google drive, depending on your preference).

Logo artwork files will include jpg, png, eps, ai and pdf formats and will be sent to you with the Martlette “Guide to your new logo” book.

Copyright ownership of all final artwork will be transferred to your business upon completion of the project. Find out more about copyright and artwork ownership here.

What is a Brand Style Guide?

A Brand Style Guide is a document that presents your brand logo artwork in a way that provides others with a guide on how to best apply your visual brand assets and your new logo. It ensures that you and others using your logo, maintain consistency. Information contained in your Brand Style Guide will include logo application, brand artwork elements, colour palette and typography style.

Find out more about Brand Style Guides and their importance in ensuring a consistent visual brand here > “What is a brand style guide? And why do I need one?”