We need your digital assets, please!
Once you engage icreate.agency for a website project, the very first thing we will want from you is digital assets.
Before we begin designing any concepts, our design team want to understand how your brand is applied visually, and what imagery is available to them.
Some of the usual things we’ll ask for include:
- Your logo. Preferably a vector such as an .eps or .ai file; otherwise a high resolution version on a transparent background. If you have multiple versions such as stacked and horizontal, it is best to provide all versions.
- Your style guide (if your business has one).
- Any marketing material that we need to align the website design with. This could be a brochure, signage, advertising etc.
- Any photography or imagery we should be aware of. E.g. hero imagery you use in your marketing, professional photography of your office, staff working, products etc.
What if we don't have a brand/logo?
If you are a brand new business, without an established brand or even a logo, then there is a good chance this is currently being designed either by us or a third party.
If this is the case, there are things we can progress with such as key messaging or content creation, but we wouldn’t normally begin any design concepts until this is determined.
We don't have professional quality photography, should we get a shoot done?
This would depend on your business and the project. But 9 times out of 10, yes, absolutely!
If your business has no quality photos, then now is the time to organise a professional photoshoot. It will not only be invaluable for the website but any marketing or advertising collateral produced for the next 5 or so years going forward. A half-day photoshoot is often sufficient, and not a large expense.
icreate.agency can assist with photography at a few different levels.
- We can recommend photographers, and give a few suggestions on images we think would benefit the site.
- We can organise the photography for you, plan the shot list, and even be there to art direct on the day of the shoot.
- At the far end of the spectrum, we can manage the entire shoot, including booking talent, photographers, videographers, make-up artists etc.
Speak to us if you would like icreate.agency to help with your website photography.
What about stock photography?
Stock photography will generally have a place on most website projects, and we will purchase as many stock images as is required from stock photography site shutterstock.com for your website at no cost (is factored into the website quote). However, stock photography is always far better when it is used selectively and complements your own photos. I think we can all agree that in most cases businesses with websites made entirely from stock imagery don’t look very genuine.
What about video?
Similar to the above, if you are building a new website, you may also be considering sourcing a professional video.
Quality video is a fantastic feature for your website, no question there, and we can certainly provide recommendations on video companies or help storyboard and produce the video. Just get in touch if you are interested.
From a website production perspective, if you are sourcing photography, it is best to get this underway early in the project. Photography will be woven into the website design, and we’ll really want to get our hands on the photos before we design if possible. Whereas with video, it’s not imperative we get this early, in fact, because of the extra time and complexity video entails, it’s quite common for the video to be completed after the website goes live. However, because we know it’s coming, we can factor a placeholder space in our designs for the video to appear in appropriate parts of the site. We can then simply hide it with a couple of lines of code until it is ready.
How should we send the files to you?
You can send a small number of assets to us via Basecamp (or email).
More likely there will be a reasonable number of files you’ll want to send us. So normally we’ll share a Dropbox folder with you. Some clients may already have marketing assets available on a cloud service. If that is the case, feel free to give us access in whatever way is best for you.