InkySpell Brand & Web Design close up of a womans hands drawing designs on an ipad

What’s the process?

ONE
The Discovery phase…

Every great brand starts with clarity. In this foundational phase, we dig deep into your business goals, client psychology, market position, and brand personality. You’ll complete a guided Discovery Questionnaire that covers your vision, values, offers, and audience. Then, you’ll explore your unique brand archetypes through a custom workbook that shapes your voice, tone, and positioning. If we're building a website, you'll receive a fillable Website Workbook designed to help you draft purposeful content that aligns with your future site layout.

Next, we meet for a 2-hour strategy session to review your responses and start building a plan of action. I’ll present insights into your competitor landscape and help define your unique point of difference. If you’re already in business, we’ll assess what’s working and what’s not, so you can pivot confidently. This phase also includes the use of intuitive tools to tune into the deeper currents driving your brand. Everything is then synthesised into a clear, strategic moodboard and creative brief ready for design.

TWO
The Design phase...

Once the strategy is approved, the design process begins. I craft a custom brand identity system tailored to your business goals, including a professional logo suite with responsive variations, a refined colour palette, and a cohesive typography system. You'll also receive branded graphic assets and real-world mockups that demonstrate how your brand will look across platforms. Your brand is designed to be high-functioning, magnetic, and ready for multi-channel visibility, from social media to digital downloads.

If your package includes a website, we move into site design with your approved brand system. I create a semi-custom Squarespace site built for seamless user experience and aligned with a 5-stage client journey. The preview site showcases your full homepage and layout plan. Instead of wireframes, I design directly within the platform to give you a real-world view of your digital ecosystem. I can also troubleshoot tech issues, streamline your backend processes, and set up intuitive email automations so your digital presence feels as efficient as it is beautiful.

THREE
The Launch phase…

With everything designed and approved, it’s time to launch. You’ll receive a complete, organised folder of your logo files, colour codes, typography styles, and branded assets. I’ll provide a Launch Guide and Visual Branding Manual that explain how to confidently use every piece of your new identity, from Instagram posts to PDFs to email headers. For website clients, we’ll schedule a 1:1 training session so you can manage your Squarespace site with ease.

To help build visibility and momentum, I’ll create a professionally designed social media launch carousel with caption copy ready to post. You’ll also receive a PDF customer journey map that helps you understand how to lead your audience from first contact to conversion. If you're launching a rebrand, this phase ensures you're showing up with clarity, confidence, and a cohesive online presence that builds trust from day one.

FAQs

  • The timeframes for each design package are listed in their descriptions. Add-ons like print design, email templates etc are quoted on request with their own timeframes.

    As of January 2025, my work hours are 9:30-2:30 mon-fri. I schedule the bulk of my projects to run during school terms & reduce my work hours in school holidays to allow more time with my family.

    Things that can affect the timeline include my children and just general life, so if you have a specific end-date in mind just let me know upfront and we can plan out a timeline that works for all of us.

  • I’ve made it super easy by creating fixed-rate packages. Optional extras like publication design, social media templates and email marketing are quoted on request.

  • A 50% deposit is payable upon booking a brand and/or web package which secures your start date, with the remainder due on completion before handover. If you require a payment plan please ask and I will do my best to find a suitable arrangement.

    For all projects under $1,000 and for all printing orders, the full amount is due upfront.

  • Graphic design is a combination of tools and skills typically needed for creating individual pieces of media like a logo, business card or advertisement.

    Brand design goes beyond that and uses graphic design along with strategy and research to build a whole personality for your business.

  • Formal things like quotes, proposals, questionnaires, feedback & design approvals etc are done by email. I use Zoom for meetings that require discussion, and generally send text reminders before a meeting.

    We'll chat about these things during the discovery phase, as well as your available hours & days, so if you have preferred communication methods please let me know.

    For those of you who live around the Hunter Valley NSW I'd love to catch up for a cuppa at a local cafe!

  • Working with me is a collaborative, streamlined experience designed to bring clarity, confidence, and ease to your brand and website. With 19 years of experience, I’ve refined a process that blends strategic thinking with intuitive creativity, ensuring that your brand aligns seamlessly with your vision and attracts the right clients.

    Because I work with established professionals who are ready to step into their next level, I keep the process structured and efficient. You’ll receive clear guidance, thoughtful design direction, and a system that allows you to make decisions with ease, no overwhelm, no endless revisions.

    If you need additional support beyond design, like copywriting, brand photography or business coaching, I have a trusted network of specialists I can connect you with. My goal is to make this experience effortless, so you can focus on showing up powerfully in your work.

  • Brand design is not a band-aid for a bad business model. That’s why I go pretty deep into your business and uncover exactly why you’re doing it, who you want to serve and what you personally get out of it (besides money) in terms of fulfilment.

    Brand design can do wonders for elevating your profile and increasing your engagement, but you also need to back it up by making sure you’re showing up for your audience and connecting with them emotionally.

  • I’ve been using this method for years with proven results. Single Concept Presentation means that you will be presented with 1 fully fleshed-out & polished brand design concept that includes multiple layouts, a colour palette, font pairings. I have an in-depth discovery process based in strategy so that when we reach the design phase I have a really solid idea of what your business needs, then I choose the best idea from my drafts and make it perfect before presenting it to you. This method makes it much easier to visualise your potential brand alive in the world and understand the strategy and symbology behind the decisions I’ve made.

    The old way of presenting ideas was to give the client 3-4 different rough draft logos alone on a page and the client had to either choose between them or end up mashing them together. In the design world we call that a Frankenstein… a weird looking mish-mash incorporating 2 or 3 conflicting ideas, fonts that clash & colours that aren’t cohesive. It’s messy, and as a designer it takes an enormous amount of time and energy.

    When you’ve been doing this job as long as I have you learn a high level of discernment! There’s no point wasting time on ideas that aren’t viable, just for the sake of presenting a pre-determined number to a client and risk them choosing the worst one.

  • It’s normal for clients to request minor tweaks, maybe adjusting a colour or swapping out a font, but changing the entire design has only ever happened to me twice. If it does happen, that means I haven’t done my job during the discovery phase, so it’s on me to fix that and adjust the timeline accordingly.

    During the discovery phase I’ll create a mood board & strategy document for you which describes the direction, ideal client & brand personality we’re going for, and we don’t move on to the design phase until you’ve approved those things.

    If for some reason you approve the strategy & mood board but then change your mind, that could change the entire scope & direction of the project. In that scenario it’s likely I would need to start again from the beginning, which means it’s treated as a new project with a new cost attached, and the deposit from the original project is non-refundable. So it is super important for the sake of everyone’s sanity & wallets that you are 100% happy with what we discuss at each phase before approving it and moving on to the next phase.