05 / Process
Four steps, about seven weeks, and two revision rounds written down before we start.
This is how our web design studio in Austin runs a project, from a five-page small business website to a full identity with print. The dates move with scope. The order does not.
The four steps, on a seven-week identity and site.
Bars show where each step sits in a typical combined project. A starter site alone compresses steps two and three into about two weeks.
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01
Call and written brief
Week 1A one-hour call with whoever makes the final decision. Not their assistant, not a committee. We ask what you have now and which part of it you would rather nobody saw. Then we ask who you lose work to.
Within three working days you get a written brief: scope in pages and pieces, the price, the dates, and the two revision rounds named with the week each falls in. Nothing starts until you sign it. Half the fee is invoiced on signature.
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02
First direction
Weeks 2–3One direction, not three. Showing three options is how studios hide the fact they have not decided anything. We show the one we would defend, applied to real things: your homepage in a browser, your card printed at size, a menu page or a social post.
If it is wrong, it is wrong for a reason we can name, and that reason goes into the brief.
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03
Build and two revision rounds
Weeks 4–6The developer builds the site in hand-written HTML and CSS on a staging address you can open on your own phone. The designer finishes the mark, the system and the pieces. The writer drafts or edits the copy page by page.
Round one lands at the end of week four, round two at the end of week five. Each round is one consolidated list from you. Week six is for fixing what the rounds found and testing on real devices.
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04
Proof, launch and handover
Week 7Print proofs on the real stock, your sign-off, files to the printer. The site goes live on hosting in your name. Then handover: every source file, the use sheet, and a recorded call showing whoever updates the site how to do it.
For 30 days after launch we fix any bug in the site at no charge. The second half of the fee is due at handover, not before.
Revision rules
Two rounds. A third usually means the brief was wrong.
We fix the brief before we fix the design.
- A round is
- One list of changes from you, in one email or one marked-up PDF, answered by one new version from us.
- Included
- 2 rounds on every project, named in the brief with their weeks.
- Not a round
- Typos, a broken link, a wrong phone number. We fix those whenever you spot them.
- Third round
- We stop and rewrite the brief with you first. Any extra round is quoted in writing before work.
- Late changes
- A new page or a new piece after round two is a new line, priced like any other. A sixth page costs a sixth page, not a new package.
Why so strict: the slowest projects we have run were never slow because of design. They were slow because feedback arrived from four people over three weeks, each undoing the last. One list per round stops that. The terms set it out in full.
What we need from you, and by when.
Late content is the most common reason a launch date slips. Not design, not code. If any of this is missing by the date shown, the dates after it move by the same number of days.
| Item | Format | Due |
|---|---|---|
| One decision-maker | Name and email in the brief | Week 1 |
| Existing logo source | AI, EPS, SVG or PDF; a JPEG if that is all there is | Week 1 |
| Domain and hosting logins | Registrar access, or we help you buy both in your name | Week 2 |
| Photographs | Originals, not screenshots; we tell you which are usable | Week 3 |
| Copy, if you write it | One document per page, plain text is fine | Week 3 |
| Prices, menu items, hours | A spreadsheet or a typed list | Week 3 |
| Round feedback | One consolidated list per round | 3 working days |
Print proofing
Screens lie about colour. Paper tells the truth.
Every printed piece gets a hard proof on the stock it will be printed on, before you sign. Not a PDF, not a photo of a proof. You hold it under the same daylight lamp we use, and if the slate reads too blue on cotton, we adjust the ink build and print it again.
We check three things on every proof: colour against the swatch, registration at the crop marks, and the smallest type at actual size with a loupe. Fine type under 6 pt fills in on soft stock, and a phone number nobody can read is a card nobody uses.
Proofing adds two to four days. We do not skip it to save a date. If a launch is fixed, we start print earlier rather than proof faster. More on stocks and file preparation is on the print page.
Timing questions, answered plainly.
What counts as a revision round?
One consolidated list of changes from you, answered by one updated version from us. Two rounds are included and named in the written brief.
What happens if the project needs a third round?
A third round usually means the brief was wrong. We rewrite the brief first, then quote any extra round in writing before doing it. You can also decide the second version is good enough; most clients do.
Can you go faster than the standard timeline?
A rush under three weeks is possible on smaller jobs and is priced at 1.2 times the total, because it moves other work. A full identity system with a business site does not fit in three weeks, and we will not pretend it does.
Who is this process not for?
Teams that need sign-off from a board of eight, or a brand that has to go through legal review at every round. The two-round rule breaks under that weight, and a larger agency with account managers will serve you better.
What happens after the 30 days?
You own the files and can hand them to anyone. If you want us for changes, we bill by the hour or quote a new line. There is no monthly retainer, and there is no platform you need us to log in to.
Week one starts with a call.
Get a planning range first. The estimator also shows how many weeks your mix of pages, identity and print usually takes. The results are written up in three cases.