While this was not the first time I worked with a client based in China, I had to research the local shipping and delivery market, since the company will be interfacing with clients and investors mainly in China.
I was able to get clear image of the client's vision after our call, but they were unable to provide a lot of details for how they wanted their website to be, so I presented different proposals and options to help them solify their ideas.
I actually struggled quite a bit to create a logo that would embody all of the values and core beliefs the clients wanted to see. They had a lot of "soft requirements" that was difficult to piece together cohesively.
My mind was constantly flowing with different arrangements of the words "Everwin" and various possible icons to represent it. However, all of them ended up being shut down by me, not even the client. Somehow, the perfectionist in me rejected all of the options I came up with, because it didn't make me go "AH HA!".
The funny thing about design is that sometimes you end up with something completely different and unexpected from previous drafts, but somehow it's the best idea ever. But things were far from over. I still had to figure out the best arrangements with the words and the client still had to like it as much as I do. We finally boiled it down to two options, and sadly, the client did not choose the one I liked better, but everybody has different taste and I respect that.
The client was somehow extremely specific about the colors they wanted for the company. "Ever" should be "Ivy green" and "Win" should be "China red" to represent longevity and prosperity. Oh boy, it was DEFINITELY going to look like Christmas. I tried several combinations, showed them the product, and thank goodness they agreed to avoid the juxtapoisiont of those two colors.
Well, I tried a more pastel palette, hoping that they would be happy with a more off-color red and off-color green. I added some more black to make it have more weight, but they wanted to avoid black because it was more "omnious" in Chinese culture.
I spent a lot of time consulting with the client about the type of website they needed because they really weren't sure. It's very important to know the target audience for the website before I start any sort of design, since this could pertain to how a user or an investor interact with the site.
I'm in the initial stages of developing a website for Everwin. It will likely be Bootstrap and WordPress, since they don't need site to be too complex. Their focus is to keep it simple and easy to understand.