A design brief, also known as a “creative brief, is an essential part of a project. It contains all the project details, including the overview, scope, timeline, budget, materials, and more. A design brief can be used on various project types such as industrial design, architectural design, interior design, or graphic design.
A client can’t just tell designers to create something and make it awesome. Designers aren’t mind-readers. They need to have a design brief to prevent miscommunication, misunderstanding, errors, and delays. Overall, a design brief saves time, money, and effort for both the client and designer. However, creating a complete and clear creative brief is imperative. Here’s how.
7 Steps to Creating a Clear and Complete Design Brief
An unclear design brief will spell disaster for the entire project. So follow these steps to ensure your creative brief contributes to a successful one.
1. Write a brief company overview
Designers are going to work around the company’s branding, values, principles, and overall personality. That said, this part must consist of all details about the company. You may include important information such as the industry you’re in, your current customers, competitors, the size and level of the company, revenue, and more.
Additionally, include its vision or mission, its values, unique value proposition, or key differentiators. You may also include the contact person or the team involved in the project, so designers know who to talk to whenever they have inquiries.
Here’s an example from Reebok and how they described the company overview.
2. Set goals and objectives
The next part of the design brief is to set goals and objectives. You want the designer to know where the project is headed or what the project’s aim is. Without setting goals and objectives, you’ll never be on the same page with the designer.
For instance, is the design for a completely new website? Are you decorating a new company store? Or is the project a redesign? Your goals and objectives must align with both the client’s and the designer’s aim. Overall, this leads both of you to a clearer path with a few errors along the way.
Here’s PayPal’s design brief and how they presented the problem and goal of the project.
3. Mention the project scope
Although the project scope can be understood in goal and objective setting, clients still need to provide the scope to make everything clear. You need to be clear about the entire project scope and what it entails. After which, the designer then either agrees or disagrees with the project scope.
There are many factors that project scope can be based on. For example, the budget must cover the entire scope of the project. If the scope is too big for the budget, the designer may disagree on some tasks or features.
Project scope can be a website design that doesn’t include a copy. Or it can also be creating a web design for a brand’s website, excluding the illustrations for the marketing materials.
4. Define the target audience
Defining your target audience is also vital if you want your product to connect with your prospects. And the designers need to know who your target audience is, so they cater the design based on it. Design involves concepts, trends, and psychology to evoke particular emotions in people.
Some questions you can ask to define your target audience are:
- Who are your customers?
- What product are they currently using?
- What are their pain points?
- How do your customers use your product?
- How does your product help resolve their pain points?
- What are your product’s best features and benefits?
Here’s one from Red Bull defining a clear target audience.
5. Determine the budget and timeline
This part may entail a lot of disagreement from both parties. So it’s essential to set the budget and timeline right from the start. Some clients think that if they disclose the budget on the design brief, the designers may try to overcharge. However, clients also don’t know the labor of love that goes into design creation.
Only the designers know the challenges, time, and effort in the design process. These challenges must be well-compensated, so everyone’s happy. Moreover, the timeline must also be determined in this part making sure it’s reasonable for both parties. Setting both the budget and timeline of the project ensures that it stays on track.
6. Mention the project deliverables
Mentioning the project deliverables on the design brief means there will be fewer back-and-forth revisions. Setting the project deliverables before starting the project means setting the right expectations from the designer as well.
If you’re creating a logo for your brand, for instance, what types of logos will you expect to receive after a few days or weeks? What will be the logo’s file format? What are the resolutions and sizes?
Here’s Quaker Oatmeal’s design brief, which includes facts and statistics. Aside from project deliverables, you may also include these types of information to make your creative brief compelling.
7. Include brand assets and materials
Unless it’s for a new brand or a rebrand, a brand will have assets designers can already use. These materials may serve as a guideline for designers on typography, colors, or icons. This is also critical to keep the branding consistent on all channels. Some of these assets are logos, websites, advertising materials, merch, and more.
Here’s Monopoly mentioning the channels they use in the “Supporting Evidence” category.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
How long should the project take?
The project’s timeline depends on both parties. A client can’t set a timeline if the designer thinks that it’s not doable. Both the client and designer must discuss and agree on a set timeline. A freelance designer may take longer, for instance. An agency may take up to a few weeks, and an on-demand design service usually takes two to five days.
What is the price point?
The price will also depend on the type of design service you’ll subscribe to. Hiring freelancers may mean you’ll pay at least $25 per hour if it's a graphic design project. Getting an agency may mean you’ll pay per project, which can shoot up to $10,000. Finally, subscribing to on-demand services may range from $200 to $1,000 per month.
Who should write the design brief?
The client must write the design brief and all team members involved in the project. This is to ensure that the design brief is clear and understandable.
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