For me, wireframes provide a pared back visual representation of a user interface. They show the hierarchy of information on the page and outline what needs to be on the screen to satisfy user and business needs. You won't usually see any colours or branding on my wireframes, but you will see any necessary annotation to describe how things work. Wireframes provide the basis for the visual design treament and development.

Mobile Wireframes for managing payments and billing information for The Economist

I saw some blue wires once and they appealed to me. During testing, I found that users undertood them as 'blueprints' rather than a finished product, and so were much more forthcoming in their feedback.

Mobile Wireframe for Totaljobs.com homepage redesign

Sketching. Very often I start sketching ideas and discussing these before creating digital assets. They are also a lot easier to stick up on the wall.

Mobile sketches for BT customer to pay their bill

Early sketches exploring a project management tool

On occasion I have taken the sketchy look and feel to the digital format.Here is an example of some work for BT Business customers for online billing and payments

Applying sketchy look and feel to digital wireframes to ellicit feedback.

Annotating my designs. Depending on who the audience is, annotations are extremely important. In this example I provide a matrix to show how the labels for the CTA's change dependent on each Use Case.

Self service pages for managing a subscription service

Annotated mobile homepage variant

When it comes to wireframe production, Axure RP is my weapon of choice, particularly if I go on to build interactive prototypes. I am equally comfortable working in Sketch, Balsamic, Visio or even Powerpoint.

Self service pages for managing subscriptions