Pixel Currents

The initial discussions I have with clients about what they want often go in circles. I have to accept some blame for this, because if I don’t ask the right questions I can’t expect the answers I need.

It’s also important for clients to put in some thought and do a bit of homework before reaching out to a designer. The more clear an initial request for proposal is, the more quickly and accurately the proposal can be returned, and the less likely it is that additional costs will be incurred, and time wasted.

I’ve developed this simple list of questions/criteria for potential clients. These are WordPress specific, but can be applied to other design projects as well.

Not every client can, or should, answer every question, of course. If your answer to a question is “I don’t really care” or “Give me some ideas” those are perfectly valid responses. You might be hiring a designer because you don’t want to think about these things!

Content: What type of content will your site include?

• Text
• Photos
• Video
• Ads
• Types of badges
  • Flickr
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIm
  • Etc.

Images: What images/graphics do you need for your site? Is there existing artwork to use or adapt?

• Header image
• Images in sidebars (as section headers, etc.)
• Other images (bullets, RSS, etc.)
• Footer image

Colors: What colors are necessary (corporate ID, etc) or what would you like to use?

• background
• focal (sidebar backgrounds, etc)
• accents

Inspiration: What have you seen elsewhere that has influenced or inspired you?

• Existing artwork or design
• Links to attractive sites
• Other inspiration or ideas

Custom Pages:

• Static or blog front page?
• About
• Archive
• Links
• Other

Additional functionality:

• Photo gallery
• Forum
• Etc.

General Layout:

• Width:
  • fluid?
  • static?
  • narrow, wide, or something in between
• Header:
  • text?
  • graphic?
  • both?
• Columns:
  • number of sidebars
  • location of sidebars
  • width of main content and sidebars
• Footer
  • any special requirements?

Hopefully these questions are helpful. Can you think of others I may have missed? Do you think there are too many? Add your voice in the comments!