Friday Question: Can you get Great Design on a budget?

This was one the questions we imposed on ourselves during the @media panel last week. My answer at the time was emphatically no, as design is as much about ‘thinking time’. In a way, it’s a hard one to answer, as it depends on the scope of the project and the size of the budget.

Since then I’ve been wondering more about this question. Is it fair to make a client pay for ‘thinking time’? Should a ‘Great Designer’ be able to produce ‘Great Design’ quickly? Or is it just possible to get ‘Good Design’ on a budget, rather than ‘great’?

Discuss!