From ‘I’ll never use a computer’ to having entire websites in my head

Grade 10. 1989. Morrin School, Alberta. Computer class with Mr. Grove.

“I’ll never use a computer.”

That’s an actual quote from me, Brenda Sargeant (née Wannstrom), author of this and many other statements I deeply regret. I said it with 100% conviction. I thought it was an absolute waste of time and ridiculous that I was being forced to take the course.

Sorry, Mr. Grove. I did you wrong.

What the web design creative process actually looks like

Here is something that I often say, and then often realize I’ve probably just freaked out my client. When a project is in the early stages, we will sometimes say something like: “We don’t have anything to show you yet, but it’s in our head.”

That’s probably mildly terrifying for someone that just handed over 40% of the project cost to hear. It’s often met with a pause. Maybe an eye roll. And definitely some uncertainty about whether that is a reassuring thing to say.

It is. We promise.

Why “it’s in our head” is actually a huge deal!

The web design creative process starts long before anything appears on a screen. The planning phase is the largest, most time-consuming part of any project and it is entirely invisible from the outside. Here is what is actually happening during that time:

• Gathering inspiration and identifying the visual direction
• Making design choices that suit the brand, the audience, and the goals
• Research into the industry, the competitors, and what the ideal client responds to
• Working out the layout and the logic of how pages connect to each other
• Holding the big picture of how it is all going to come together

None of that produces a deliverable you can look at. But all of it shapes what the site eventually becomes.

Trust is what makes it work

This is also where clients really have to put their trust in us and we do not take that lightly. Not everyone is as excited about a half-formed idea living in someone else’s brain, and that’s totally fair. We try not to forget that what feels like enormous progress on our end can feel like radio silence on theirs.

Working with a web designer means leaning into a process that is not always linear or visible in the early stages. The clients who trust that phase tend to be the happiest with what comes out the other side.

From “I’ll never use this” to “this is my whole career”

The irony of spending your career doing the thing you once declared useless is not lost on me. But here we are. The web design creative process is genuinely one of my favourite things. The research, the ideas, the moment when it all starts to click together in your head before a single line of code is written.

Mr. Grove: thank you for making me take that class. Sorry about the attitude.

Do you do creative work? Do you relate to the idea that getting it fully formed in your head is a major accomplishment before anything is made? Or are you firmly in the eye-rolling camp? I would genuinely love to know.