The Design Audit

You Don’t Have to Know What You Need. I Do.

If you’ve ever stared at a design project and wondered whether you were about to make an expensive mistake, you’re not alone. That hesitation is healthy. It means you understand the stakes. What you need isn’t more options. You need someone who has seen enough to tell you exactly what to do next. That’s what 40 years buys.

Does Any of This Sound Familiar?

You have a website, but it was built reactively, and it shows. Now you’re ready to do it right, except the options are overwhelming, and you’re not sure which direction makes sense for where your business actually is.
You’re about to invest in a rebrand, a new website, or a suite of marketing materials, and you want to make sure you’re spending the money in the right place.
You’ve inherited a pile of marketing materials. Some are dated, some inconsistent, none of them explained. You’re trying to make sense of what you have before moving forward.
You’ve heard enough about design projects gone sideways. Budgets burned, results that didn’t deliver, agencies that were better at selling than executing. You want an experienced second opinion before you commit.
You’re simply not sure what you need, and you want an honest answer from someone who has seen this before.

What You’re Actually Getting

I’ve been doing this for over 40 years. I’ve worked with small businesses, large institutions, solo operators, and marketing teams inheriting someone else’s mess. I’ve seen what happens when organizations rush into design work without a clear foundation, and I’ve seen what’s possible when they don’t.

There are no account executives here. No junior staff learning on your project. When you sit down with me, you get four decades of direct, senior-level thinking applied to your specific situation.

These engagements are not exploratory conversations. They are structured evaluations that end with a clear, prioritized next step. The goal is simple. Give you the clarity and confidence to move forward and spend your money in the right places.

Two Ways to Engage

The Design Audit is available at two levels. Both are structured, paid engagements with clear deliverables. Both end with a prioritized next step. The right one depends on where you are and what your situation requires.

The Design Readiness Review

The Flagship Program. Engagements begin at $4,000.

For established businesses, growing organizations, and teams preparing for a significant design or website investment.

If the stakes are high, the decisions are complex, or you’ve been burned before, this is the engagement that gives you the full picture.

You walk in with questions and uncertainty. You walk out with a clear, written evaluation of where your organization stands, what’s working, what isn’t, and exactly what to do next.

How It Works

Phase 1. Pre-Review Intake

You provide your current print and digital materials, your website, relevant background, and your stated goals and concerns. I review everything before we meet so our time together is focused and productive.

Phase 2. Structured Working Session (2 to 3 hours)

A disciplined, framework-driven conversation covering your business context, existing assets, the assumptions behind your current thinking, decision-making readiness, and whether your ambitions and budget are aligned. This is not a casual discussion. It is a structured evaluation.

Phase 3. Evaluation Across Five Dimensions

Your organization is evaluated across five areas that consistently determine whether design investments succeed or fail:

Clarity. Are your business goals and design requests actually aligned, or are you solving the wrong problem?
Cohesion. Are your materials consistent and intentional, or is there fragmentation across touchpoints?
Maturity. Is your organization reactive, transitional, or disciplined in its approach to design decisions?
Process Readiness. Are decision-makers aligned? Are approvals clear? Do you have what you need to actually move forward?
Investment Alignment. Are your ambitions and budget realistic? Are you underbuilding, overbuilding, or misdirecting resources?

Phase 4. Formal Written Report

A structured, professional written report covering your current state across all five dimensions, key observations from the asset review, risks and misalignments, assumptions worth revisiting, a candid assessment of where AI should and should not play a role in your marketing program, and a clear, sequenced next step.

Phase 5. Follow-Up Session

We review the findings together, clarify any recommendations, and end the engagement with a defined, confident next step. No pressure. No sales pitch.

Credit Toward Execution

25% of the engagement fee, up to $1,500, toward a Shawn Wright project initiated within 60 days. Credit applies to projects of $2,000 or greater.

The Design Strategy Review

Not ready for a full review? This is the right starting point.
Engagements begin at $1,750.

For small businesses, solo operators, and early-stage organizations who need direction but aren’t ready to commit to a full diagnostic.

This is a focused working session that clarifies your priorities and defines a concrete next step without the full evaluation process.

It is a smaller investment, a shorter process, and a faster answer. If your situation is straightforward and you mainly need a senior set of eyes and a clear direction, this is where to start.

What’s Included:

Light pre-review of your current materials
2 to 3-hour structured working session
Honest evaluation of your goals, existing assets, and current assumptions
Written summary with a clear, prioritized next step
An honest overview of where AI can support your marketing efforts and where it can hurt you.