What a Graphic Designer needs from a Client before starting a new project

For any project, a graphic designer undertakes, there are a few key things that a client needs to be able to provide. Their brand's colour palette, logos and any other branded collateral, an updated list of what other designers have created for them in the past, and once you're done with the first version of the design - give feedback!

What a client should supply a graphic designer with before starting a project
Before starting a new project, a client should supply the designer with examples of their logos, marketing material, and other visual branding to help create a cohesive design. Unless you're a start-up or rebranding of course, in which case it would be great to if you had on hand examples of inspiration or ideas for creative direction.

Don't forget the specifications for your artwork. If you need website banners - what size or format do they need to be in? If you need print artwork, what is the page size? If the specification isn't supplied correctly before the designer starts creating the artwork, it is easy to recomposition the artwork but it will cost you more in design time or affect turnaround speed.

Images and text for all needed visual content
First and foremost, a graphic designer needs images and text for all needed visual content. A company's logo is one of the most important aspects of a design, as is its business identity. Images for sales campaigns also need to be created if you're not using stock. It is also worth considering whether the imagery you have is suitable for the format in which it will be published. This is more important for print design and large format print because any image supplied at low resolution will not scale effectively.

Information on any copyrights or trademarks
Before a project begins, the client and the graphic designer should agree on who owns the copyright and were there are any copyrights or trademarks agreements. If so, it is up to the designers to ensure they abide by such. If not, it is always best to ask for written permission before you begin your work so that there is no confusion later.

Any previous work related to the project
This consists of a screenshot, examples, draft work, and the type of end product desired. It's much easier to create something from following sound examples rather than coming up with something from scratch. There is also a chance that the client will be undecided as to what the final product should be. And fret not if you don't have any previous design examples to share! Imagine it as practice.

A budget and deadline for the project
One of the most important considerations for any design project is the timeline. The client needs to give you an idea of what they expect out of your design work. Ideally, this should be in terms of both budget and deadline. This will give you the amount of allowance you'll have for expenses, as well as what you can ask for before deadlines approach.