The process
What happens next
Six stages from the first call to the final file. What I do, what I need from you, and what you actually walk away with at each one. If a stage isn't listed here, it isn't part of the job.
Before stage one
Two ways in
Not everything needs a meeting. If you need one thing made, tell me what it is and you'll get a quote — no call, no fee. Program work is different: an identity system or a season of content has too many decisions in it to scope over email, so it starts with a paid consultation. Charging for that hour is what turns it from a sales call into work. I show up having looked at your program, you show up with the real budget and the person who can decide, and we both find out fast whether this is a fit — in the cheapest place in the whole process to find out it isn't.
The consultation is $150, credited in full toward the project if you book it.
What the call buys you
- A straight read on whether the project is worth building, and whether I'm the right person to build it.
- The real scope — what the work takes, in what order, and what it depends on.
- A budget range grounded in the work, not a number designed to get you in the door.
- A written follow-up with the direction we landed on. Yours to keep either way.
Stage by stage
Six stages, start to finish
Every stage names something you do. If a step needs nothing from you, it's my workflow, not your process, and it doesn't belong on this page.
- 01
Discovery
What happens
We get on a call. I ask about the program, the moment you're building toward, who it's for, and what has to be true for it to be worth doing. If I'm not the right person for it, you hear that on this call instead of three weeks in.
What I need from you
An hour, the person who can actually make the decision, and whatever you already have — old files, key dates, roster, a budget range if you have one.
What you get
A straight read on whether the project is worth building, what it would take, and an honest yes or no from me.
How long — One call, usually under an hour, booked to the first slot that works for both of us.
- 02
Scope
What happens
I write down exactly what gets made, to what standard, what it costs, who owns it, and how many revision rounds are included. Nothing gets built off a conversation.
What I need from you
A read of the scope and a direct answer. If something in it is wrong, say so before you sign it, not after.
What you get
A written scope and estimate you can hold me to — deliverables, ownership, revision rounds, and payment terms, in plain language.
How long — Usually a few business days after the call. Longer when the project depends on print or vendor quotes I don't control, and if that's the case I'll tell you exactly which piece we're waiting on.
- 03
Direction
What happens
Before anything gets produced at full scale, we agree on direction — concepts, references, a mark, a look for the season. Enough for you to see where this is going and redirect it while redirecting is still cheap.
What I need from you
Feedback that's specific and consolidated. One voice carrying everyone's notes beats five people sending screenshots on their own schedule.
What you get
An approved direction in writing, so production isn't a guess and neither of us is surprised later.
How long — Depends on how fast decisions come back on your side. A direction can sit for a week waiting on an approval, and that week moves the finish line with it.
- 04
Production
What happens
The work gets built to the scope. One operator start to finish — no handoffs, no junior pass. You get checkpoints, not silence.
What I need from you
Access and assets on time: roster, dates, logos, credentials, gym or field access, and a point of contact who answers.
What you get
Work in progress at the checkpoints we agreed on, and a straight answer any time you ask where it stands.
How long — The longest stage and the one that varies most. A single graphic and a season-long content system are not the same job, so the range lives in your scope instead of on this page. Anything tied to a game, a shoot, or a Senior Night is set by the schedule, not by me.
- 05
Review
What happens
You review against the scope. I make the revisions we agreed to, in rounds, so feedback lands as one clear pass instead of a trickle.
What I need from you
All of your notes in one place, from everyone who gets a say, inside the window we set. Notes that arrive after a round closes go into the next one.
What you get
The included revision rounds, applied in full. If your notes go past what was scoped, I price it before I build it — never after.
How long — Each round moves faster than the first build. The number of rounds is named in your scope; the calendar is set mostly by how fast your notes come back.
- 06
Handoff
What happens
Final files, stores, and systems are delivered ready to run, in the formats you'll actually use, with the plain-English version of how to run them without me.
What I need from you
Somewhere to send it and the right people on the receiving end. For a store or a site, a launch date we pick together.
What you get
Final files and assets on final payment, with ownership and usage terms exactly as written in the scope, plus what you need to keep it running yourself. Two honest exceptions, named in every scope: the reusable templates and systems I build on stay mine and you get a licence to keep using them, and any licensed font, stock, or vendor asset transfers on whatever terms its own licence allows. No hostage files — but no promises I'd have to break someone else's licence to keep.
How long — Usually the same week review closes. A store or site launch is tied to the date we set together, not to the day the files are finished.
Straight talk
What this page isn't promising
This is the shape of the work, not a delivery date. Your dates live in your scope, and the scope is the document that counts.
Not every project uses all six stages at full weight. A single graphic compresses two through five into a short conversation. A season system uses every one of them.
Speed is shared. Most of the calendar risk on a project is approval time, not production time, and that side belongs to you.
No unlimited revisions. Unlimited revisions make work slower and worse at the same time. Rounds are named up front and applied in full.
I can promise the standard of the work and the honesty of the reporting. I can't promise how a league, a market, or a season responds to it.
The part nobody puts on a website
When it goes sideways
Projects go sideways. Not often, and not usually badly, but often enough that you should know what I do about it before you're in it. This is the whole policy.
The scope changes
It happens on most good projects, because the work reveals things the first call couldn't. The rule is simple: I price the change before I build it. You get the cost and the schedule impact in writing, you say yes or no, and nothing gets made off an assumption. I don't build first and invoice the surprise later.
I miss a date
You hear it from me before you notice it. The message gives you the new date, the reason without a story wrapped around it, and what I'm resequencing to protect the pieces tied to a real event. If the miss is mine, I make it right on the work — I'll rush it, reshoot it, or credit the piece against your invoice. What I can't do is cover downstream costs I didn't quote, so anything time-critical gets flagged in the scope while there's still room to protect it.
You miss a date
Approvals, assets, and access are the most common reason a project slips, and none of them are on my side of the line. I'll tell you what I'm waiting on and what it moves. Nothing goes quiet on my end, and if the compressed timeline was on my side of the line, the rush is on me too.
You hate the first draft
Say so plainly. Nothing you say about the work is going to hurt my feelings, and “I don't like it” is useful — the useful version is “I don't like it because.” Direction gets approved before production for exactly this reason: a hard reset is cheap there and expensive later. Missed the scope means missed what the scope says in writing — that one's on me and it doesn't touch your revision count. Changed your mind about what the scope should have said is a different conversation, and a fair one, but it's a revision.
It goes quiet
Seasons get busy and priorities move. If I don't hear from you, I'll follow up, tell you what's paused and what it costs to restart, and hold your files for a year while you decide. What I won't do is quietly bill a stalled project forward or pretend the timeline still stands.
We're not a fit
Either of us can say it. If I'm not right for the job, you'll hear it on the consultation call, and where I can I'll point you at someone better. If it becomes clear mid-project, we stop at a clean boundary: we settle the work completed to that point against what's already been paid, and you keep the finished pieces in usable formats. Work in progress stays in progress — I won't hand over a half-built system and call it a deliverable.
Something breaks after handoff
Reach out. If something I built doesn't work the way the scope said it would, I fix it — that stands for 30 days after handoff, and longer on anything I'm still maintaining for you. If it's a new ask wearing a bug's clothes, I'll tell you that and quote it. What I won't do is pretend not to see your email.
Start here
Tell me what you're building
Need one thing made — a flyer or poster, a highlight reel, an event recap, a set of graphics? Just tell me what it is and you'll get a quote. No call required, no fee. Building an identity system, a website, a team store, a season of content, a full brand and site build, or anything running across several services? That starts with a $150 consultation. Book the project and the $150 comes off the invoice.