At the beginning stages of the design process, there is a great deal of consultation that occurs between the artist and client. Sometimes you will get to meet the whole team other times it is one person who represents a collective. This introduction phase is very important and helps to gain the respect and trust especially from a new client.

One of the most important factors to remember is that you are there to listen and to gauge what the needs of the client are. The objective at this stage is to collate the thoughts, ideas and concepts.

My experience has proven there is absolutely no substitute to using a simple pencil and paper. Often a number of sample preliminary drawings are completed and discussed with the client. This may happen two or three times before the clients agrees to the final concept designs.

I may go through a number of sample preliminary drawings before I have what I believe the client is looking for. On rare occasions I come up with a concept design that my client agrees to, straight away.

My advice to any designer is that it pays to research the type of market the client is in as this can help speed up the process. Very rarely a client will know exactly what they want. As an artist your role is to decipher their thoughts and ideas and come up with a personalised design that they feel like they have created.