From real client conversations
Questions clients ask before hiring us
Real questions from brands we work with, paraphrased and answered the way we answered them. Names and details removed.
“Are our email designs being generated by AI?”
A subscription film-streaming brand establishing its email design direction · Sep 2026
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How we answered
We use AI as a tool in the process, not as the designer. It helps with ideation, exploring creative directions, checking strategic alignment and QA. The final designs are made and refined by people, because AI-generated concepts rarely capture the finer details of a brand's visual identity, tone, hierarchy and audience. For more complex work, an experienced email designer executes the direction while the strategist stays involved throughout, reviews everything and handles final refinements. And when a brand has no established email guidelines yet, a few iterations early on are normal; sharing reference emails you like, from any brand, speeds that up.
“Why are you only designing the first welcome email right now instead of the whole flow?”
A home-furnishings retailer starting its first welcome flow with an agency · Jul 2026
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How we answered
Because the first email sets the direction for everything after it. When we start with a new brand, we design the first email in a few distinct concepts and walk through them together. That shows us quickly which visual style, tone and level of detail the team responds to, and what to avoid. Once a direction is chosen, it becomes the foundation for the rest of the flow, so every following email is consistent and needs fewer revision rounds. Here, one concept was selected and refined, and the remaining emails were built on it.
“How can we be sure the final email will look the way we expect before design starts?”
An Australian online party supplies retailer · May 2024
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How we answered
We share a wireframe first. Before the designer builds anything, you see the copy laid out with a clearly labelled placeholder hero image, the product images we plan to feature, and where every product and link will sit. Labelling the hero image as a placeholder avoids confusion about final assets, and catching issues at this stage, such as a featured product that has gone out of stock, is much faster than revising a finished design. Once the wireframe is approved, design and deployment move quickly.
“Our email tool's basic templates aren't good enough for our newsletter. How can you help, and how do you charge for it?”
A European luxury manufacturer preparing monthly newsletters ahead of its first launch · Jun 2025
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How we answered
We can build custom HTML templates and insert them into your email platform, so you're not limited to its basic designs. How involved we get depends on you, and we offer three ways to work: we execute what you direct; we develop a full strategy starting with an audit; or we run things collaboratively with minimal time needed from your team. For a defined piece of work like templates, a fixed project price is usually more cost-effective than hourly billing. We also bring industry best practices, so your monthly newsletter is built on what works in your market.
