The Design Process:

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I do this because I genuinely love creating something special for athletes and their families. Photography may begin with the camera, but for me, it doesn't end there. I enjoy taking an athlete's portrait and turning it into something that feels larger than life—something they'll be proud to see hanging at their school.

That's why I don't charge separately for the initial banner design. The creative design work is something I include because I'm passionate about the finished product.

I create the first design using my experience and creative judgment. Once you see it, I absolutely welcome strong, honest feedback. If something isn't working, tell me. If information is incorrect, we'll fix it. If there's a meaningful change that will make the banner function better—such as making the school name more visible from across a pool or field—that's valuable feedback.

I generally include one meaningful round of revisions, and I'm usually happy to make a second reasonable adjustment when needed. Even a third small revision may sometimes make sense.

What I try to avoid is design by committee.

There's an old saying in the design world:

“A camel is a horse designed by committee.”
 

It's funny, but there's a lot of truth behind it.

Imagine we set out to design the perfect horse. One person wants longer legs. Someone else wants bigger feet. Another thinks it should go longer without water. Someone suggests changing the back. Another wants a hump. Then somebody decides two humps would be even better.

Eventually everyone got a little bit of what they wanted...

but we don't have a horse anymore. We have a camel.

The same thing can happen with graphic design. A coach has an idea. A parent has another. Someone shows it to a friend who prefers a different font. Another person wants the text moved. Someone else wants it larger. None of those opinions are necessarily wrong—but trying to incorporate everyone's personal preference can quickly take a cohesive professional design and turn it into something designed by committee.

My complimentary design service includes my original concept and a reasonable opportunity to provide valuable, meaningful feedback and revisions.

After two or three rounds of revisions, continued redesigns, alternate concepts, or changes based primarily on additional opinions become professional graphic-design services and are billed at my standard $250-per-hour design rate.

This isn't meant to discourage feedback. I want your feedback. It's simply a way to keep the process productive and make sure I'm able to continue offering this creative work without charging every athlete for design time from the beginning.

Give me the information I need. Give me the important requirements. Tell me when something truly needs to change.

Then give me some room to create.

Because at the end of the day, I want to make you an incredible horse.

Not a camel. 🐪

I understand that design is subjective. You may have a very specific vision, or you may prefer a design created by a parent, coach, student, another designer, or even yourself.

That's completely fine.

You're always welcome to provide me with your own completed, print-ready design. As long as the artwork meets the necessary size, resolution, and printing requirements, I'll be happy to have it printed for you.

What I won't do is spend hours recreating someone else's concept through an unlimited series of complimentary revisions. If you'd like me to take your concept and professionally design or rebuild it, that work is available at my standard $250-per-hour graphic design rate.

There's also one important distinction:

I only promote and showcase my own creative work through my website, portfolio, and social-media channels.

If you provide your own design, I'm happy to print it, but I won't present or promote that banner through my social media as an example of my photography/design work. That's not a judgment on someone else's design—it's simply important that the work I publicly showcase represents my own creative style and standards.

So there are really two easy paths:

Let me design it: My original design is included, along with a reasonable amount of meaningful feedback and revisions.

Design it yourself: Send me your completed artwork, and I'll print it for you.