Once you know what you want your website to achieve, the next hurdle is a practical one: showing up to the brief prepared. Designers can only work as well as the information they’re given, and a half-finished folder of files slows everyone down. If the whole process still feels a little mysterious, it becomes far clearer once you have web design explained in plain terms. This article covers the tangible materials to gather before that first conversation.
Think of this as the “gather your materials” step that follows setting your website goals. It’s less about strategy and more about the concrete inputs your designer needs.
Your Brand Assets
Your brand is the visual starting point. Round up everything you already have, even if it feels incomplete. A designer would rather see what exists than guess.
- Logo files in the highest quality you can find, ideally vector formats like SVG, EPS, or AI, along with any PNG versions
- Your brand colours, written down as hex codes or from a printed swatch if you have one
- Fonts you use in your signage, business cards, or existing marketing
- Any style guide, brand book, or old brochures that show how your business presents itself
Don’t worry if your logo is a low-resolution file from years ago. Flag it early so your designer knows what condition your assets are in.
Content You Already Have
Words are often the biggest bottleneck in a web project, so take stock of what you’ve written and what still needs writing.
Pull together any existing copy: your “about” story, service descriptions, and any customer testimonials or reviews you’re allowed to publish. If you’ve collected feedback through email or a review platform, note which ones you’d like to feature.
Then have an honest conversation about who supplies the missing pieces. Some owners prefer to write their own copy because they know their business best. Others would rather hand it over. Either works, but decide early so nobody assumes the other party is handling it.
Photos and Imagery
Images shape how professional a site feels. Sort your visuals into three simple buckets: what you own, what you need, and what quality you’re starting with.
- Photos you already own, such as shots of your premises, team, products, or completed jobs
- Gaps you’ll need to fill, like a proper storefront photo or headshots
- The resolution of your files, since small, blurry images taken years ago rarely look good on modern screens
If you run a Perth trade or service business, real photos of your work around local suburbs often connect better than generic imagery. Note anything you’d like a photographer to capture, and mention any images you definitely want to avoid.
Business Essentials
These details are easy to overlook because you know them by heart, but your designer doesn’t. Getting them accurate the first time saves rounds of corrections.
- Your current phone number, email, and physical or postal address
- Opening hours, including any seasonal or public holiday variations
- The service areas you cover, whether that’s a single Perth suburb or the whole metro area and beyond
- Any legal or compliance text, such as licence numbers, ABN, privacy wording, or industry-specific disclaimers
If you serve specific regions across WA, list them clearly. A plumber covering the northern suburbs and a consultant working statewide need very different location details on their site.
Reference Examples
Showing a designer what you like is one of the most useful things you can do. Collect a handful of websites that appeal to you and a few that don’t.
The key is explaining why. “I like this one” isn’t much to work with, but “I like how clean this homepage is and how easy the menu is to follow” gives real direction. Do the same with sites you dislike: maybe the text felt cramped, or you couldn’t find the phone number. These reactions help your designer understand your taste without a lot of back and forth.
Include examples from your own industry and from outside it. Sometimes the layout of a completely unrelated business sparks the right idea.
Access and Logistics
Finally, gather the practical login details that keep a project moving. These are the items people scramble for at the last minute, so track them down now.
- Your domain name registrar details and login, so the site can eventually go live on your web address
- Logins for any existing website, if you’re rebuilding rather than starting fresh
- Links to your social media profiles you’d like connected to the site
- Any current hosting or email account information you’re aware of
If you can’t find some of these, that’s fine. Just note what’s missing so it can be sorted before launch rather than becoming a surprise later.
Arriving Ready to Start
Pulling these materials together takes an afternoon or two, but it pays off many times over. When you arrive with your brand files, content, images, business details, references, and access sorted, your designer spends their time building rather than chasing information.
A well-organised brief also helps the finished site stay true to your business, because the designer is working from your real assets and words instead of placeholders. Gather what you can, be honest about the gaps, and you’ll walk into that first conversation ready to get started with confidence.