With a business acumen to fortify my creative abilities, I would sit at your table – not as one who is attempting to fill an order – but as a strategist who can help you to move the needle.

In keeping, I wouldn’t set an hourly rate – I would instead – negotiate a monetary value that would be based on moving that needle.

To ensure that key points are not overlooked or lost in translation, I would ask that ALL stakeholders be present in key meetings.

To create an identity that clearly and effectively communicates exactly who you are, I would ask you to describe all aspects of your brand:

• What is your mission and reason for being - what do you want the main gist of your messaging to be?
• Are there any keywords that best describe your brand and help to establish a desired tone of voice?
• How would you describe the overall look and feel that you’re hoping to achieve for your brand?
• Do you have a ‘secret sauce’ that gives you a competitive edge?
• What is the ultimate outcome that you envision for this project?
• How are your existing brand assets serving you or not serving you?
• Are there any key pain points that you're hoping this project will resolve?

To reiterate, I will not be designing for you – instead – you and I will join forces to design for your customers. If you don’t fully consider who your customers are, you cannot fully and effectively connect with them. And so, we’ll identify your customer base to better understand how their mindsets and behaviors might drive sales:

What do you know and/or assume about your customer base:

• What kind of customers do you currently have, and what other kind of customers would you like to acquire?
• Is there a direct tie between your brand and your customer's goals, passions, challenges or pain points?
• Where do your customers shop? How do they dress? Where do they live? … in short, what is their realm?
• Do you focus on customers of a particular age, ethnicity, gender, profession, financial bracket, academic level, interest group?
• Does relationship status or parental status have any bearing?

User personas will be an important filter or point of reference throughout our process. Compiling attributes like those above, we’ll manifest two quintessential customers with whom you’d like to become more fully engaged. We’ll go so far as to give these fictional characters names, and then communicate with them using a tone of voice that will resonate with their hypothetical senses of say: adventure, exclusivity, value, security, growth, etcetera.

A Working Agreement

Having acknowledged your needs and preferences – as well as those of your customers – I will submit an estimate/agreement that clearly outlines the list of services to be rendered. That outline will realistically indicate the time needed to expedite each task.

• If there are any items you feel may have been overlooked or misinterpreted on that estimate/agreement, you will advise, and I will re-submit a new one;
• My estimate/agreement will include sign-offs and payment requests at key phases;
• You will approve my estimate/agreement only when you’re completely assured that we’re all on the same page. And as I delve into my creative trenches, I’ll remain on-point by keeping this document front and center.

I'll lay down the groundwork for your custom designs by way of stylescapes. Stylescapes can be regarded as hyper-focused Pinterest boards that get the design conversation started, and they're the ideal means of nailing down just the right look and feel.

• Stylescapes are compiled by way of extensive exploration and reference gathering. In so doing, many great ideas surface and evolve;
• I’ll pare my compilations down to what I believe are the best 4-5 possible options, and then show them to you;
• I’ll justify my rationale for each option, and explain how each particular look and feel might appeal to your quintessential customers;
• Having reviewed the concepts and ideas derived from the stylescapes – and having identified your favorite, most appropriate options – you’ll have cleared the runway for generating your own custom designs!

As the look and feel of your brand must resonate with your particular customers, the personas we manifested in the discovery phase will be omnipresent while these stylescapes are being compiled.

At this stage of the creative process, initial ideations will have become more informed ideations, and having acquired a broader knowledge base in terms of your particular niche, my ideas will have become that much more nuanced and on-point.

• Your logo is the cornerstone: Whether refreshed or newly designed, your logo will set the stage for your very own custom stylescape. On that stylescape, the logo will be matched up with appropriate color systems, typography, Imagery (photography and/or illustration), and other supporting graphics
• While this phase will certainly accommodate iterations and refinements, please know that I would have to negotiate requests or afterthoughts that might exceed the scope of our initial agreement.
• Iterations and refinements in place, you will sign off on the final design standards and then production will commence.

To ensure a cohesive look to your promotional item(s), your final stylescape will serve as a touchstone while refining the interplay of all your designed assets. Even your most ancillary communication pieces will be cleanly and seamlessly integrated.

• Best practices for both print and web production will be employed as we cross our ‘t’s’ and dot our ‘i’s.’ Throughout the entire production process, ample proofing and approval cycles will be offered;
• Your print files are press-ready, and your web files are ready to launch—but it doesn’t end there … it ain’t over until the presses stop - and in keeping - I will work closely with all vendors before and after I hand off any press-ready assets.
• It ain’t over until Google indexes your pages either, so I will also test and troubleshoot all website issues before your final launch. I’ll also gladly work with any SEO or social media experts you might bring into the mix.

By the time you’ve launched your site and mailed your brochures, I’ll have spent so much time collaborating with you, that I’ll have become rather attached to your campaign. So I’ll be on standby, readily available to do whatever it takes so that your baby(s) might thrive out there in the real world;

I’ll be in it for the long haul, and hope that I’ll have established myself as your trusted, go-to resource for all of your future iterations and creative endeavors!