The quality of a custom site is decided mostly in the brief. Not because the brief needs to be long — the best ones fit on a page — but because generic inputs produce generic outputs, no matter who or what is designing. Here are the eight questions that matter, and why.
The eight questions
- What does the business actually do? One paragraph, no slogans. "We service solar plants for factories in Luzon" beats "we deliver end-to-end energy solutions" every time.
- Who is the one visitor that matters? Not your whole audience — the single person whose decision moves your business. A plant manager reads differently than a CFO.
- What should that visitor do? One action. Book a call, request a quote, download a spec. Sites with three primary goals achieve none.
- What makes you hard to substitute? The thing a competitor can't say. This becomes the headline territory.
- What should it feel like? Three adjectives, or three sites you admire (from any industry). "Precise, warm, expensive" is a usable direction; "modern and clean" is what everyone says.
- What must it never feel like? Often more useful than the previous question. "Never corporate," "never startup-y," "never like a template" — these eliminate whole design families in one line.
- What exists already? Logo, colors, photography, copy, a site being replaced. Also tell us what you'd happily throw away.
- What are the hard constraints? Launch date, budget tier, languages, hosting, compliance. Constraints given early are design inputs; constraints given late are rework.
The template
Copy this into an email to hello@vibemypage.com and answer in as few words as you honestly can:
BUSINESS — what we do, in one paragraph:
VISITOR — the one person this site must convince:
ACTION — the one thing they should do:
EDGE — what a competitor can't say:
FEELS LIKE — three adjectives or three reference sites:
NEVER FEELS LIKE —:
EXISTING ASSETS — logo / colors / photos / copy:
CONSTRAINTS — date / tier (FREE · TIER 1 · TIER 2) / other:
VISITOR — the one person this site must convince:
ACTION — the one thing they should do:
EDGE — what a competitor can't say:
FEELS LIKE — three adjectives or three reference sites:
NEVER FEELS LIKE —:
EXISTING ASSETS — logo / colors / photos / copy:
CONSTRAINTS — date / tier (FREE · TIER 1 · TIER 2) / other:
What happens next
Within one working day you'll get either clarifying questions or a proposed engagement tier. Within days of agreeing, you'll receive the written art direction — the palette, type, motion language, and signature element, with the reasoning. That document is your first and cheapest chance to redirect. Use it ruthlessly.