What we need before visual design
Good inputs include the business model, main services, service area, primary audience, existing website history, brand assets, required integrations and examples of sites you respond to. We can work with incomplete brand systems, but factual business information should come from the client.
Design deliverables depend on scope
A focused marketing site may need a compact component system and a handful of page types. A large service website may require multiple templates, deeper navigation, location structures, resource layouts and rules for future expansion. We design for the content model rather than forcing every project into the same package.