Before you paint a pixel

I’ve been spending a lot more time lately thinking about and teaching design. Through that process, I’ve realized how crucial the steps you take are before you ever paint a pixel.

Having designed professionally for decades now (Jesus, I’m old), a lot of this has become instinctual for me. But in conversations with others in our field, I’ve realized that people without a strong background in design could really benefit from a pre-design process.

Today, I’m sharing a quick overview of the three steps I take before starting any design. Spending even an hour on this can save countless hours later by avoiding dead-end rabbit holes, minimizing major revisions, and preventing inconsistencies.

1: Understanding the Brand’s Personality

I start by understanding the brand’s personality. I’ve found that many small businesses don’t have a clear grasp on this when they come to you, so it’s a great opportunity to work with your client to figure it out.

Ask your client how they’d describe their brand’s personality, with questions like:

• Would your brand spend its spare time at a loud club or a quiet movie at home?
• Would it speak in proper language or use slang and curse words?
• Would it wear a suit and tie, or a hoodie and gym shorts?
• Would your brand want people to call it by its first name or surname?

These questions (and ones like it) get the conversation rolling in practical terms that clients can easily understand. But I always try to dig a bit deeper by following up with questions like “What do you mean by that?” or “Why do you feel that way?”

While this may sound a little artsy-fartsy, you would never use Comic Sans and childish illustrations for a brand that describes themselves as a “mature father figure”.

Knowing the brand’s personality informs everything from typography and color to photography choices.

2: User Profiles

This step goes by many names — personas, target users, customer avatars. The goal is to understand who is visiting the website and what they want to achieve.

Build multiple user profiles with my clients using a simple formula: “I am a ____ and I want to ____ so that I can ____.”

For example, for a plumber: “I am a homeowner and I want to find a plumber who handles emergencies so that I can get someone here immediately to stop a leak in my basement.”

Understanding your audience is critical and will influence every design decision, and I’ve found these practical examples something easy for both the client and I to reference as we ask ourselves questions about the layout and review our decisions.

3: Gathering Inspiration

Gathering inspiration is essential for aligning with your client’s vision and getting your creative juices flowing.

I like to collect examples and organize them by specific personality traits or user profiles based on what we identified in steps one and two.

For instance, finding color palettes that give me the feeling of a “mature father figure” personality or header layouts that we could use to highlight emergency plumbing services as soon as a panicked visitors lands on any page.

This approach ensures your first proofs align with client expectations and all but eliminate the risk of completely missing the mark

These three steps have become non-negotiable for me. They improve efficiency and ensure your designs connect with the brand and its audience.

And I promise that investing a little time upfront will pay dividends in the long run.