Choosing a provider
Custom website design services
Custom website designers sell originality, but originality alone does not make a good website. The designs also need to work on every screen size, be buildable without compromise, and stay consistent as new pages are added.
This page explains how to judge custom design providers on all of those points, and what you should receive at the end.
Illustrative diagram
Custom design deliverables
- Page designs
- Phone
- Desktop
- States
- Hover and focus
- Errors
- Empty
- Components
- Buttons
- Cards
- Sections
- Specifications
- Type
- Colour
- Spacing
Telling custom work from adapted templates
Some "custom" sites are templates with a new colour scheme. Look at a designer's portfolio for variety in layout, not just in colour and imagery. Genuinely custom work reflects each client's content: a restaurant site and a law firm site should differ in structure, not only in style.
Ask how a past project's layout was decided. A good answer refers to that client's content and audience rather than to a theme or starting kit.
Designer only, or design and build
Designer hands over to a separate developer
Suits you when
- You already have a developer
- Design is the main need
Watch out for
- Details can be lost between design and build
- Agree who resolves gaps
One provider designs and builds
Suits you when
- You want one point of accountability
- Designs must be built faithfully
Watch out for
- Check development quality as well as design
What a custom designer should deliver
| Deliverable | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Page designs at phone and desktop sizes | Shows how layouts adapt |
| Interactive states | Hover, focus, error and empty states for buttons and forms |
| Component library | Reusable parts for future pages |
| Typography and colour specifications | Consistency across site and other materials |
| Usage notes | How to assemble new pages without breaking the design |
Questions to ask
Process
- How do you start: with content or with visuals?
- How many directions will I see, and how are they refined?
- When will I see designs on a phone?
Outcome
- Will I receive a component library?
- How will new pages be designed after launch?
- Who owns the design files?
Giving feedback on custom designs
Custom design involves more subjective decisions than template work, so feedback matters. Describe your reaction in terms of goals: "this feels too formal for our customers" helps more than "make it blue". Gather comments from everyone involved into one list before sending.
Review designs on your own phone, not just on a large monitor. Many of the most important decisions, such as what appears first and how menus behave, only become clear at small sizes.
Check the build behind the design
A striking design can be let down by its build: slow pages, layouts that break between sizes, or animations that make the site hard to use. When reviewing a designer's live work, try their sites on a phone, resize your browser window and use the keyboard to move through a page.
If the designer hands over to a developer, ask who checks that the build matches the designs, including hover, focus and error states, and how differences are resolved.
How a custom design engagement runs
Discovery
Business, audience, competitors and content needs explored.
Output: Design brief
Direction
One considered visual direction presented and refined.
Output: Agreed direction
Page types
Each page type designed at phone and desktop sizes.
Output: Approved designs
System and build
Components documented and the site built from them.
Output: Live site and component library
Warning signs
Desktop-only presentations
Designs shown only on large screens leave the most common experience unreviewed.
No states designed
Without error, focus and empty states, the build fills gaps inconsistently.
Portfolio of near-identical sites
Suggests a template being restyled rather than custom design.
Questions about custom website design services
How can I tell if a design is really custom?
Look for layouts that reflect each client's content, not just different colours on the same structure, and ask how layouts were decided.
Should my designer also build the site?
Not necessarily, but one provider for both reduces the risk of details being lost between design and build.
What is a component library?
A collection of reusable design parts, such as buttons, cards and page sections, with rules for using them.
Will I see designs before the site is built?
Yes. Key pages are designed and approved before development begins.
Who owns the design files?
Ownership and usage rights are set out in the quotation, including the design files and the built site.
Can you work with my existing brand guidelines?
Yes. Brand guidelines speed up the design and keep the website consistent with your other materials.
How do you design for accessibility?
Contrast, type size, focus states and heading structure are defined in the design so every page inherits them.
Do you show design work in progress?
Yes. You see the direction, then key page designs, before anything is built, with agreed points for feedback.
Can the design be used for printed materials too?
The typography and colour specifications can guide other materials. Print-specific design is separate work.
What if I do not like the first direction?
We discuss what is missing against the brief and revise the direction within the agreed review rounds.
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