The first week isn't about building. It's about listening. The most expensive mistake in web design is building the wrong thing beautifully.

One of the most common things we hear from new clients: “I’ve hired web people before and it was a mess. I didn’t know what was happening or when things were due.”

We designed our first week around that feedback.

Here’s exactly what happens.

Day 1–2: The Discovery Call

The first thing we do is talk — not about design or technology, but about your business.

What do you do, and who do you do it for? What’s working right now, and what isn’t? Who are your best customers, and what made them choose you? Where do most of your leads come from today?

We’re also asking what you don’t want. Clients who’ve had bad experiences tell us a lot about what to avoid.

This call usually runs 60–90 minutes. We take detailed notes. You don’t need to prepare anything.

Day 2–3: The Soul File

After the call, we put together what we call your Soul File — a written document that captures your brand’s core identity.

It’s not a style guide (that comes later). It’s more like a personality profile. What are the three words a customer should feel when they look at your stuff? What businesses have a look or feel you admire? What makes you different from the three competitors you’d lose to most?

We send this to you to review. If we’ve gotten it wrong — and sometimes we have — this is where we find out.

Day 3–5: The Design Brief

Once the soul file is confirmed, we put together a Design Brief: a visual document that shows the direction we’re going before we build a single page.

This includes sample color palettes, type combinations, and reference sites that share the feel we’re aiming for. It’s not a mockup of your site — it’s a preview of the design language we’re going to use.

We want your gut reaction here. “That feels right” or “that’s not us” is exactly the feedback we need.

End of Week 1: You know what you’re getting

By Friday of the first week, you’ve seen the direction. You’ve confirmed it feels right. We’ve answered your questions.

From here we move into design and build — and because we’ve done the discovery well, that part moves fast. No pivots. No “actually that’s not what I meant.” No expensive re-dos.

The first week is the most important week of the project. Everything else is just execution.

If you’re curious what this process would look like for your business specifically, the Discovery Brief is how we find out. It’s free, it’s 30 minutes, and it’s the same first conversation we’d have if you hired us.