This is how we do it.
1. Your brief.
Before we can start we need to know what you want!
To get this information we need a brief. Essentially this is an outline of the final result of your project:
- What will it be?
- What will it do?
Don’t worry if you’re not sure how to answer these questions – we have the experts on hand to help you formulate a solution for your needs.
Our simple on-line brief sheet is the easiest place to start.
2.The How Much and The How Long.
Next we will work out the required time and the costing of your project. This will involve a number of factors, including the size and scope of the work, your budget, your deadlines and expenses, like the purchase of stock photos or any printing.
As a guide, Shape charge a standard hourly rate of $115. For jobs over $1,000 we require a 25% deposit before we start work.
3. Your very own graphic designer!
We’ll assign you the best designer from our team for your job. Your designer will get in touch for a chat about the project so you know we’re all moving in step and understand exactly what you’re looking for.
4. The nuts and bolts.
We will possibly need a few things from you to get started:
Text/Copy
This is any words you would like in the artwork (e.g. your poster information, website text or video captions). It’s important for this to be as accurate as possible right from the beginning, as it takes time and money to change it in the later stages of the design.
Copy is best supplied in a digital format like a ‘Word document’, or in an email. To make life even easier and reduce room for error a ‘Word document’ using your correct formatting and style is ideal.
For the best way to format and send us your copy, please give us a call!
Logo/Branding
If your company has an existing logo or style guide we’ll need it before we start.
We need the logo in a specific file format called vector format, which allows us to resize it without losing quality.
Yes please: Vector files usually have the extension file.eps , file.ai or file.pdf
No thanks: Files that are not suitable for logos are file.jpg, file.bmp, file.tiff and file.png
If you’re not sure if your logo is in the right format just send it through and we’ll let you know if it’s okay!
Pictures/Images
Any images we’re not designing for you!
The basic rule for image files is the larger the file, the better the quality. We’ll let you know what sort of quality we need, but as a guide, print work will require much larger (i.e. higher resolution ‘hi-res’) images, while websites will often use smaller images.
5 The first glimpse.
All the components have come together and we’ve worked on your visuals according to everything we’ve discussed with you. Once we’re happy we’ll send you the first visuals – these are normally in a draft format, to give you a firm idea of how the design is progressing without committing too much time to work you may not be so keen on. Your feedback at this point will set the project on track for completion.
6 Your Project R1
We’ll present the work to you in a polished, completed state. If you’re happy with it, go straight to Step 8! Otherwise, we’ll discuss it in detail and make our final amendments accordingly.
All of our quotes include two rounds of amendments, so it’s especially important to take some time to check and assess the complete product at this point. A final, thorough list of amendments will help us provide you with the absolute best design solution, and save you the extra time and money of additional changes later!
7 Your Project R2
Your project by this stage should be perfectly complete and completely perfect. Aside from a few possible minor tweaks, we have finished all amendments and your design is ready to be released into the real world!
Aside from any mistakes on our part, changes beyond this point will be charged at our consultancy rate of $115/hr.
8 It’s Alive!
Once you’re happy with the artwork, we’ll ask you to sign off via email, confirming that you’d like us to go ahead with implementation. Now we prepare it for its intended medium and purpose: your web design is prepared for publication as a live website, or your ad design is readied for billboards.
9 Invoice
Once everything is complete and you’re happy with the final product we’ll send you an invoice.