Home / What to Consider When Writing a Design Brief
Yes, design is about creativity and artistry. But it’s also about achieving a specific result. In a business context, design work is always carried out with a specific goal or intention in mind – not just for fun.
So, how do you guide your design team in the right direction and allow them to draw on their creativity while still achieving the kind of result you’re looking for? The answer’s simple: create a design brief.
If you’ve never had to brief a designer before or feel like your briefs have some room for improvement, we’re going to run through everything you need to know right here. As well as explaining the purpose of briefs and why they’re so important, we’ll offer some tips to help you write effective briefs and provide examples of what they should look like.
So, what is a design brief and why do you need one? In essence, it’s a document that tells your designer everything they need to know about the task at hand. It can be just a single page of notes or an in-depth three-page behemoth: whatever is most appropriate for the task you’re briefing for.
The role of a design brief is to communicate the vision for the project, the strategy behind it and the goals you’re trying to achieve. The document acts as a guide for your design team, offering them the direction they need to deliver work you’ll be happy with.
Without a brief in place, the design process is unlikely to run smoothly – particularly if you’re planning a more complex project like start-up branding or a website redesign. You can expect a lot of back and forth communication, a lot of wasted time and a lot of mock-ups that don’t meet your expectations. Oh, and a lot of delays.
If you want your project to run smoothly and generate results in a timely manner, a design brief is an absolute must. Here are some tips to help you create them.
Are you a company director or marketing manager briefing an external design agency? Perhaps you’re a designer yourself and are writing a brief for your colleagues who are working on an in-house project? Your perspective will affect how your brief should be written and what it should include.
For instance, if you’re briefing an external agency that has only just heard of your company, you’ll need to include some background information on your brand and its history within the brief. The more, the better.
On the other hand, if you work at a small business and are briefing a colleague you work closely with who already understands the overarching business goals and the objective of the project, you won’t need to include all this in your brief. Keep it simple and only include the information you need to include.
When you’re writing a design brief – or any other brief for that matter – it’s important to get the basics down before you elaborate on your preferences and intended creative direction.
What does the scope of the task include? What’s expected of your design team? How much time do they have to deliver a mock-up, and what format do they need to deliver it in?
A design brief is intended to reduce the need for back and forth communication and ensure the design process runs smoothly. But if you make the brief too long-winded and complex, your designers will raise questions right from the outset, defeating the object.
Instead of being tempted to include pages and pages of detail in your briefs, try to keep them clear and concise – set out the goals and objectives in simple, unambiguous terms. Your designers are likely to have some more specific questions that a brief can’t answer anyway, so we’d suggest keeping your brief to-the-point and arranging a meeting to give everyone the opportunity to get their questions answered.
Combining a clear brief with a meeting gives you the best of both worlds. The designers will have a document they can go back to and reference at any time, but they’ll also have the chance to clear up any queries they have before starting work on the project.
In other words, collaboration is key. A brief is the foundation of a successful design project, but that’s all – you still need to communicate effectively with your design team to get the results you’re looking for.
Looking for a design brief example? Here’s a suggested list of headings you can use to create a brief of your own.
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