General FAQs
Q1. How will I receive my design project, once it is finished?
A finished project is yours upon receipt of the final payment. At your request, we will supply the electronic files to you on CD, Pendrive, Dropbox, or through e-mail. We also keep a copy of your project on file for later updates or should you lose your copy.
Q2. What is the client’s involvement in the design process?
As a Graphic & Web designing company, we listen to our clients from the start. We encourage the client to bring in any samples, color combinations/swatches, and ideas they may have to help us get an idea of style before starting to work with new clients. During the design process, the client is asked to approve certain colors and fonts before work continues. Once the design project is ready for print we will submit a final proof for the customer’s approval before submitting to production. Once a job is in production, the job cannot be canceled. At the conclusion of a project, the client may request the artwork in various formats if payment was made for design services.
Q3. I don’t know where to start, can you help me?
Call us and see if we are a fit. We’ll listen to your needs and tell you what your options are. A job may seem overwhelming until you have the right solution from a design architect helping you out. We can put things in perspective and offer solutions that you may not have even considered. We are problem solvers and brand creators. Let us create the consistency that’s currently missing in your marketing pieces.
Q4. What types of payments do you accept?
Currently, we accept business cheques, personal cheques, banker’s cheques, VISA, Mastercard, Paypal, and Cash.
Q5. Who owns the copyright for the designs you produce?
Copyright for all work carried out by Design Outlay transfers to the client as soon as the balance has been settled in full. We do, however, reserve the right to use any work for promotional purposes on our portfolio or website.
Q6. I need something designed on a short notice, is this possible?
Sometimes customers require our services at very short notice. We can usually accommodate rush jobs depending on the size of the project and how full our production schedule is. These jobs are usually subjected to an additional charge on the flat hourly rate.
Q7. Why should I choose Design Outlay over some other firm to do my design work?
At Design Outlay we understand that you have many options when choosing a graphic design firm and thank you for the opportunity to present our Designing, Branding, and Production solutions to you.
Q8. Why should you choose us over the competition?
Experience: With many years of experience in designing, we bring a broad spectrum of experience and knowledge to design your project. We are passionate about the design business and about helping organizations and businesses succeed and gain a competitive advantage.
Flexibility: Examine our portfolio and you will see the breadth of work we have completed over the years. Chances are we have experience creating almost any type of project or design you require. If we don’t have experience with a particular design area, we work with a network of design associates who can lend their expertise to your project, ensuring trouble-free production of any item you can imagine.
Unlimited concepts and revisions: To ensure your complete satisfaction we will create and recreate as many versions or changes on your design project until you are completely happy (in some cases there will be an extra charge per revision)
100% Satisfaction Guarantee: If for some reason you are still not happy with the final product, we offer a full satisfaction guarantee. No results, you don’t pay. It’s that simple, and it’s our commitment to your complete satisfaction.
Creativity: Creativity is a very subjective topic. Examine our portfolio and you will see how we have solved our past client’s design problems. We hope this is an indicator of our creative abilities.
Feel free to contact us to discuss potential design solutions to your communication challenges.
Risk-free: We offer FREE, no-obligation design quotation, and initial consultation. It never hurts to talk to someone to help clarify your design requirement. Use our Get A Quote form to submit your design project today.
Competitive Pricing: We are a relatively small design shop, with significantly less overhead than bigger design firms. This allows us to pass the savings on to you. We will gladly meet or beat any design bid from a competing design firm.
Technology: We use the latest software packages, to provide designs with the latest possible features available.
Q9. We don’t have a very large budget, Can you still help us?
Yes, we have designing packages for most budgets. If we can’t help you we will give you some ideas about how you can get your design produced within your budget restrictions.
Web design FAQs
Q1. Can I get an e-mail with my Website?
Yes, you can have email and you will probably wish you set-up several emails addressed e.g. sale@your-domain.com, info@your-domain.com.
Q2. Can you provide all of our web design and hosting services?
Yes – we are your one-stop web designing company to provide all your web services and fully backed by GoDaddy. No more, not knowing who to call if you have problems – we can register your domain name – design your website – provide your web hosting, and arrange your email accounts for you.
Q3. In what format should I supply words and photographs about my business for my new website?
It is helpful to us if you are able to provide text and photographs in electronic form – for example, the files output by a digital camera and the words in MS word or similar format. If this is not possible, we can help get your information ready for use on the website.
Q4. Why should I hire a website design professional?
We all know someone who designs web sites as a hobby – your nephew, a friend, a co-worker. This also explains why there are so many poorly designed web sites – or “all lookalike” – commercial template type of design. Some “designers” don’t even bother to change the original photos.
Let’s say you hire your nephew or an employee’s relative who “creates websites in his/her spare time”. The Result: Your website does not have the professional look that shows in your other marketing campaign so the first impression could be negative. Your site might be hard for the visitors to navigate, the pages might take too long to load, or it could be just…plain boring, causing people to leave your website without contacting you.
From their first impression, website visitors do not take your business seriously and they choose to take their business to your competitor.
Web Design is a unique design medium and requires extensive knowledge in designing graphics and page layout for the Internet.
The Internet is VISUAL! You have 4 seconds to grab your visitor’s attention. You miss with a poor design, your client is gone!
Q5. Do you re-design the existing website?
Yes, we do. We can redesign, retaining your company corporate style or we can redesign to give you a completely new image. Is your website up to date? We can redesign your website to take advantage of the latest web technologies
Q6. How long will it take for my website to be designed?
The timescale of a website design project is often dictated by the client but typically ranges from 4-8 weeks. If you have a deadline in mind, we will do our best to meet it for you. The most common delay in the creation and completion of a new website is waiting for content (text/images) to be sent to us by the client.
Q7. What’s the difference between static websites & dynamic websites?
Static (or HTML) websites are generally hard-coded by a web designer or web developer and have “stationary” pages that don’t change every time they are visited. Most content (unless third party script is included) remains “static” until it is manually updated by a web designer or coder.
Static websites tend to be cheaper to design and develop but more costly to update as owners who do not know HTML code will need to hire a web designer every time they need to make changes. Static websites often become dormant if their owners cannot afford to pay for updates.
Dynamic websites are compiled of various components, scripting languages (such as PHP, ASP, JSP), and a database, and can be modified by the end-user (the client) on their own computer. Dynamic websites usually have a lot more functionality than a static website and are interactive.
Dynamic websites are more costly to develop, especially for proprietary content management systems, but after the initial development fees, they are usually cheaper to update
Q8. What is responsive web design?
Responsive web design is a method of designing websites that enables optimal viewing in multiple devices and at various screen resolutions, from desktop computers to the smallest smartphones. RWD uses flexible images and a fluid layout with percentages or proportional grids which adapt to the device on which the responsive website is viewed. Media queries are used to define different style rules in the CSS (cascading style sheet).
A responsive website takes longer and costs more to develop than a fixed width website, especially those with complex layouts and design elements, but with today’s ever-increasing use of mobile devices, a responsive website will be available to a much wider audience and is well worth the initial investment
Graphic Design FAQs
Q1. How does your logo design process work?
During our initial logo meeting, we first begin by discussing the client’s ideas, target market, and uses for this logo. We then ask for samples of existing logos that the client likes or dislikes to get an idea of their taste. Sometimes the client already has a design concept in mind. Other times, they have no idea what they want. Either way, we make sure we have collected enough information before we begin work. Our logo design service is very straight forward. If you’d like to see extra concepts after our initial three ideas or if you need a couple of logo designs for multiple companies our service can be priced according to your needs.
Q2. How will I receive my design project once it is finished?
A finished project is yours upon receipt of the final payment. At your request, we will supply the electronic files to you on CD, pen drive, dropbox, or through e-mail. We also keep a copy of your project on file for later updates or should you lose your copy.
Q3. What is the client’s involvement in the design process?
As a non-agency, we listen to our clients from the start. We encourage the client to bring in any samples, color combinations/swatches, and ideas they may have to help us get an idea of style before starting to work with new clients. During the design process, the client is asked to approve certain colors and fonts before work continues. Once the design project is ready for print we will submit a final proof for the customer’s approval before submitting to production. Once a job is in production, the job cannot be canceled. At the conclusion of a project, the client may request the artwork in various formats if payment was made for design services.
Q4. Can my logo be integrated into other projects (Web, printing, etc.)?
You will receive many different files of your finished logo design, in a variety of colors, sizes, and file formats, which can be used in everything from print projects to Web sites. If you prefer or require a different type of file format, just let us know and we will be happy to supply it.
Q5. Do I need to send a deposit for the work?
Yes, a 50% deposit is required before any work begins and the remaining payment when the final logo design is approved but before it is delivered.
Q6. Do you do small projects?
Yes! We are happy to work on small projects; anything from minor edits to a Web site to altering a graphic or logo. Smaller projects are often hourly rated. Contact Us to discuss your small project