How to run a client design project
A four-stage process for client work that does not end in final_final_v3: a brief that becomes a checklist, two or three directions with a recorded decision, numbered review rounds with pinned feedback, and a named delivery package.
Beginner7 min readUpdated 27 September 2026Studio
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Design goes wrong in the gaps between the work: the brief that lived in three WhatsApp messages, the option the client "sort of liked", the feedback that arrived as a voice note, the file called final_v3_FINAL. None of that is design skill. It is process, and the process below is the smallest one that closes the gaps. You can run it with a notebook and folders; the last section shows how Studio runs it for you.
Stage 1: the brief becomes a checklist
Take whatever the client sent, in their words, and pull out two lists before you design anything. The first is what must appear: headline, date, time, venue, price, contacts, sponsor logos, the thing they said twice. The second is what you owe: every format (Instagram post, story, A3 poster) with its size and its due date. Send both lists back in one message: "Here is what I read; tell me what is missing." That message is the cheapest correction you will ever make.
- Keep the client's original text. When a detail is disputed later, the brief settles it.
- Put deadlines against formats, not against the job. The story is needed Friday; the poster can wait for the printer.
- Ask for the brand assets now: logo files, fonts, colours, any guideline. Do not start with a logo screenshot.
- If they have no brief, write one from a ten-minute call and send it for a yes. Start a job from the client's brief shows what a good one contains.
Stage 2: directions, and a decision
Clients choose better between two or three clear ideas than they react to one finished design. A direction is not a full design: it is a mood board with a sentence, a palette, a type pairing and a handful of references, presented as a page. Three is the right number. One gives them nothing to compare; four means you have not decided either.
- Name each direction and give it one line: "Night heat: warm neon on deep indigo, big condensed type, grain."
- Make the three different in kind, not in shade. If two directions share a palette, merge them.
- Present them in one sitting, in order, and ask for a choice at the end of the meeting. A choice by email a week later is usually no choice.
- Record the decision in writing, with the date, before you design. "You chose B" in a message is enough, and it ends the "we never agreed that" conversation before it starts.
Present directions and run review rounds covers the board, the presentation and how the choice carries into the design.
Stage 3: review rounds with a record
Every time you show the client something, it gets a number: v1, v2, v3. Every comment is pinned to the place on the design it refers to, and every reply from the client is turned into a checklist before you open the file. That checklist is what you tick off, and it is what you send back: "Changes in v3: 1, 2, 3." The client sees their words became work, and neither of you re-litigates the last round.
| Problem | Cause | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Endless rounds | No agreed number | Two rounds of changes are in the price. Say so in the quote, not in round three. |
| Feedback from five people | No single voice | One person collects and sends the feedback. You reply to that person. |
| "Make it pop" | A feeling, not a change | Ask what they would compare it to, or offer two concrete moves and let them pick. |
| Changes to approved things | Approval was verbal | Set the version to Approved in writing. Later changes start a new version, and a new round. |
| The wrong version got printed | Files named by feeling | Version numbers on every file and every message, so v3 is v3 everywhere. |
Show work in context when you can. A poster on a wall or a post on a phone screen gets a faster, calmer decision than a flat rectangle on white.
Stage 4: a delivery they can use without you
Delivery is one package, built from the approved version, containing every format at full size in the file types each one needs: PNG and JPG for screens, a print PDF with bleed and crop marks for the printer. Name every file the same way, client_job_format_version, so the folder sorts itself and the version number matches the round that was approved. Include a short note: what each file is for, the pixel and paper sizes, the fonts used, and what to tell the printer. A client who can find the right file in six months without emailing you is the best marketing you will get.
Deliver every format, named and ready for the printer has the naming scheme, the print PDF details and the delivery note.
How to do it in Voidcanvas
Studio is built around exactly these four stages. A job has six tabs in the order the work happens, a Next bar that names the one thing to do, and a status (Direction, Design, Review, Delivered) that moves forward on its own.
- Brief tab. Press Start a job and paste the client's words. Studio reads the headline, date, time, venue, price, contacts and must-haves into a checklist the Editor keeps, and lists the formats the brief names under The brief mentions. Add due dates per format and pick the client's brand.
- References and Directions tabs. Drop in references, then sort them into Direction A, B and C frames with a name, a line, a palette and a type pairing each. Present shows them full screen; PDF and WhatsApp images send them. When the client picks, press Client chose this one: the job moves to Design and that palette and type seed the design.
- Key visual tab. Start key visual in the Editor opens a design at the master format with the brief as a checklist in the Brief panel, then Build N missing formats lays out every other size from it.
- Review tab. New version from the design saves v1, v2, v3. Drop pins where the client pointed, paste their message into Client's reply and press Turn into a checklist. Set the version to Sent, Changes asked or Approved. Compare and Mockups put the work in context. Send a review link lets the client pin comments and approve in their browser with no account (you need one; the images and comments are encrypted with a key that lives in the link).
- Deliver tab. Tick the file types per format and press Build the package. Every file is named client_job_format_version, print PDFs carry 3 mm bleed, crop marks and a slug line, and a delivery note lists what is in the zip. Send as a link gives the client a download page instead.
Common mistakes
- Designing from the first message. Send the two lists back first. Ten minutes now saves a round later.
- One option, polished. They cannot say what they want until they see what they do not. Show three directions before one design.
- Feedback in your head. If it is not written down and numbered, it will come back.
- Delivering the working file. Deliver finished formats and a note. Send editable files only when the contract says so, and say what tool opens them.
- No end. Set the number of rounds, mark the approved version, and call the job delivered. Anything after that is a new job.
How many design options should I show a client?
Two or three directions, presented together, different in kind rather than shade. One design gives them nothing to compare; more than three means the decision has been pushed to them.
How many rounds of revisions are normal?
Two rounds of changes after the first version is the usual freelance quote. Put the number in the quote, mark the approved version in writing, and treat changes after approval as a new round or a new job.
What files should I deliver to a client?
Every format at full size in the file types it needs: PNG and JPG for screens, a print PDF with bleed and crop marks for the printer, all named the same way with the version number, plus a short note listing what each file is for, the sizes and the fonts used.
How do I get usable feedback instead of "make it pop"?
Ask them to point at the place and say what they would compare it to, offer two concrete moves and let them pick, and turn every reply into a numbered checklist you send back with the next version.