We offer clients a proofing platform called Ziflow, and it changes how design approvals feel. No more email chains. No more PDFs with feedback buried in a subject line. No more “which version are we on?”
It’s one of those tools that doesn’t seem like a big deal until you’ve used it, and then you can’t imagine going back. Clients mention it unprompted at the end of projects, not because we ask, but because it made a part of the process that used to feel stressful feel easy instead.
Two things worth saying up front. It’s included as part of our service, at no extra cost. And it’s completely optional: we offer it because it makes the process easier, not because it’s a condition of working with us. Most clients take it up and are glad they did, but if you’d rather give feedback another way, that’s absolutely fine. Here’s how it works, and why we offer it to everyone.
Sound familiar?
It’s worth naming the problem it solves first, because most people recognise it straight away.
You get a design back from your agency. You download the PDF, mark it up somehow (sticky notes in Acrobat, or just typing feedback into a reply), and send it back. A few days later a revised version arrives, but you’re not sure all your notes were picked up. You dig through your sent folder to check, and realise there are now four versions of the file in your downloads with names like “logo_v3_FINAL_revised_USE THIS ONE.”
That’s not a process. It’s chaos with good intentions.
The same three problems come up again and again: too many emails about one file, no clear record of which version is current, and feedback that’s hard to act on because it’s written in prose rather than pinned to the part of the design it’s about. Most people assume this is just what working with a creative agency is like. It isn’t. It’s a workflow problem, and those have solutions.
Streamlining the design approval process with Ziflow.
What Ziflow actually is
Ziflow is an online proofing platform. In plain terms, it’s where design files live during review and approval: you comment directly on the artwork, and everyone can see what’s been said, what’s been resolved, and which version they’re looking at.
There’s nothing to install. It works in any browser, on any device, and you don’t need an account to leave feedback. Because everything happens in one place, nothing gets buried in a thread or lost between inboxes. It isn’t a design tool or a project manager. It does one thing: it makes the feedback and approval stage clear and easy for everyone involved.
How it works
The process is simple, which is the point.
Once we’ve got a draft ready, whatever it is, we send you a single link. You click it, the file opens in your browser, and you’re looking at exactly what we’ve made.
Ziflow acts as a central hub where design files live during review and approval.
From there you click anywhere on the design and leave a comment. Headline needs moving? Click the headline and say so. Colour feels off in the corner? Click there. Every comment is pinned to the exact spot it’s about, so there’s no guessing on our end about what you mean or where.
It isn’t only for static work, either. With video and animation, you can pin a comment to the exact frame on the timeline, so a note like “the logo lingers too long here” is tied to the precise moment, not a vague “around twelve seconds in.”
Providing feedback is simple: click anywhere on the design to pin a comment directly to the artwork.
And if several people need to review, that’s where it really earns its place. Everyone comments on the same file and can see each other’s notes as they go, so feedback gets discussed and reconciled between them before it reaches us, rather than landing as several separate, sometimes contradictory email threads. No more playing referee between inboxes.
Approve the design with one click
We work through your comments and come back with a revised version, sent the same way: a fresh link to the latest. This is where the compare feature earns its keep: you can view the new version against the old one side by side, with the changes highlighted, so you can confirm at a glance that what you asked for was actually done.
That’s the rhythm of it. Each update comes back through the same place, so everyone is always looking at the current version, never a stray attachment from three emails ago. We go round as many times as it takes, and when you’re happy, you approve in one click. Clear record, nothing lost.
Why it matters for the work
The obvious benefits are fewer emails, less confusion, faster turnarounds. But there’s something less obvious we think matters just as much: when the feedback process is easy, people give better feedback.
When you have to write a paragraph to explain where something needs to change, you sometimes skip the smaller things. When the process feels like hard work, you approve things you’re not quite happy with just to move on. Without a clear version history, a quiet anxiety runs through the whole thing.
Take that friction away and people are more precise about what they want, more confident in their approvals, and happier with the result. That’s good for everyone.
What clients tell us
We don’t ask for feedback on the tools we use, so when Ziflow gets a mention, it’s unprompted. The line we hear most, in one form or another, is “it takes all the back-and-forth out of it.”
Less chasing. Less confusion. More confidence that the version they approved is the version that goes to print or goes live. For anyone used to the email-and-attachment approach, the difference shows from the first project. For clients who’ve been with us a while, it’s simply how things work, which is probably the best sign it’s doing its job.
Working with us
Ziflow is something we offer on every project, and most clients take it up. New clients get introduced to it at the start, and we’ll walk you through anything you need. Returning clients already know the drill. And if it’s ever not for you, we’re glad to work however suits you best.
If you’re not working with us yet but you’re curious how we run projects from brief to delivery, we’re happy to talk it through.
Does your own creative workflow have a proper feedback and approval stage? Or is it still mostly email?
Get in touch and let’s talk.
