Successful projects always start with a great design brief. Writing a clear and thorough brief not only helps our designers understand the scope of your project, it also acts as an essential reference point for you and the creative team throughout the design process. A well written brief develops an understanding of the project for both parties and will give you confidence upon submission that you will get your desired outcome. Perhaps most importantly, a successful design brief ensures that any design issues can be considered and questioned before our creative team begin working.
Tell us who your company is and what you do. It also helps to paint a better picture by describing your organisations personality. e.g conservative, classic, quirky, adventurous.
By setting the aims and goals of your project you help clarify your thoughts and you begin to define what the purpose of your project really is. You may also find that it can indirectly help to find any flaws or potential problems you initially thought was a good idea. These issues if not identified in the pre design stages can become costly at a later date.
Some examples of project goal setting that we have seen in previous projects are:
Be sure to give us some details on who your target audience is. Are you looking to expand your client base and approach a new market? or are you trying to reaffirm your current audience?. Be sure to include demographics such as:
Relevant design examples can be a great help when explaining what your tastes are and what you believe to be effective or not. Also by including any samples of your company’s current marketing materials and explaining to us what you do and don’t like about them will give our designers a better idea of how to best cater for your needs.
To help with efficiency and time management, be sure to include all assets required to complete the project. This may include:
Be sure to include a thorough list of all the components you require. For example, if your medium is print, select stock and finishes. If it’s an animation or digital project list the functionality required (i.e. What you need to be able to do with it – slide show images, content for email marketing, ect). If you are looking to create a website you can include a rough site map or ‘wireframe’ of how you want to divide your content.
Last but not least, define any limitations the project might have. If you can provide a budget or ball park figure It will give the creative team a good idea of the type of solution that can realistically be provided. Timeframe is also an important consideration if you have any specific deadlines to be met it needs to be clearly defined in the brief.
So, there you are! now you are ready to write the perfect brief that will get you results and your creative team will love you for!.