For most business people, graphic design is about getting their marketing message across.  Fine no problem then – just dash off a few well chosen words, a couple of off-the-peg images and hey presto! But once you’ve exhausted the Word clip art library, chewed your way through a dozen pencils, drunk enough coffee to keep Brazil’s economy buzzing (not to mention yourself) and it still looks pants – what’s next?

Engage a graphic designer of course! The big question though, is just how do you get them to know what you want?  I mean, they don’t know you’re business, so how could they possibly grasp what your after?

Enter the ‘creative brief’ – a document you can present to your chosen designer which expresses the expected outcomes of your project. This is what you can use to express the direction the design should take.

It actually should be a very creative and enjoyable process in itself, if you approach it the right way. However, for those of you who have done it before and who dread writing up briefs, this could be of some help.

Always keep your briefs brief

Writing up a creative brief gives you and your designer somewhere positive to start and generally helps the design process to go more smoothly. If you go through this process, you’re more likely to end up with a finished project that will fulfill your needs. It’ll also serves as a benchmark against which to measure how successful the design work was.

Your designer will take the project more seriously than if you hit them with some vague ideas. Vague and graphic design just don’t work well together.

Its also a good idea to prepare your creative brief in advance of approaching any designer. It may help to raise questions which could have a bearing on the designer you actually choose to work with. Some are just better at certain things than others, that is, unless your planning to work with a agency that can cover most project types.

Oh, and don’t write War and Peace – they don’t call it a ‘brief’ for nothing – the clue’s in the title.

Great, but where do I start?

Just as no two projects are ever the same, no two briefs are ever the same also. Each project will have it’s own set of objectives and constraints, but don’t worry. Here’s a few guidelines to help you write one.

You might not need to include everything listed and the list won’t work for every conceivable type of project, but hey, you’ve got to start somewhere, right?  Just pick the bits that fit with what your doing. If you think something’s missing then add it in! It’s your brief after all.

The following is taken from a proforma brief we use here at Studio 9 Graphic Designers, which is sent out to clients who are not sure where to start.  I hope you’ll find it useful – I know they do.

In a nutshell

The brief should be a clear written explanation, outlining the aims and objectives of the proposed project.

The creative brief is a critical part of the design process. Use it to form an understanding between you, the client, and your designer, what both your requirements and expectations are. Done successfully, it will serve as an essential point of reference for both parties.

Share the blame

Speak with as many people as you feel necessary before briefing your designer. It’s always good to get a bit of additional input. Objectivity can get a bit stale when you work closely with something

This is especially important within a larger organisation. Showing the design brief to different people and asking for their input may reveal remarkable differences in the way different people perceive your organisation’s aims and objectives.

Resolving any potential internal differences in opinion prior to briefing your designer will save considerable time and expense further down the line.

Don’t watch your language

It should go without saying that you should write your brief in a clear and concise way. However, there’s also no reason not to use emotive language to emphasise exactly what you want. Sometime a little bit of passion is all it takes to get the message across effectively. And who doesn’t like a little bit of passion?

Who the hell are you? (Bart Simpson)

Starting your design brief with a short, honest description of your organisation is always a good idea. But don’t take this information for granted, and don’t assume that your designer will necessarily know everything about your organisation and what it does. Even if they’ve worked with you before, please remember that most designers work with a wide variety of clients.

In you own words describe:

• What does your organisation do?
• Who are it’s clients are?
• Where are it’s primary markets?
• How does it fit into the business sector it’s marketing to?
• To date, what are it’s major successes?
• To date what areas does it consider less successful and why?
• How long has it been around?

What are your Aims and Objectives?

So that the project will have any real chance of succeeding you need to ensure that clear goals are set. Try using the following to consider what best represents what your trying to achieve.

Are you trying to:

• reposition yourselves within your market?
• increase uptake of your service?
• encourage more enquiries?
• raise your organisation’s profile?
• totally change or just freshen up your image?
• obtain feedback from clients and/or potential customers?
• create a more consistent approach to your marketing?
• other? Then explain.

Then try listing any particular key issues that need to be addressed and write a short explanation for each so that your designer will ‘get it’.

Whose attention do you want?

Next, describe your primary target markets or audiences along with any relevant details on each.

Explain what you want to gain within these sectors. i.e, if there’s more than one, have you different goals for each?

How will you know if the project’s been a success?

How will you know this within each sector if there’s more than one?

What turns you on?

As well as the brief, its a really good idea to show your designer some examples of what you consider to be effective or relevant design within in your sector. This might be something you’ve seen on the internet (remember to bookmark it), marketing materials sent to you, or even a competitor’s brochure. Alternatively, you might also show them examples of designs you consider to be in-effective or irrelevant!

What is it about the design that you really like or dislike?  If so, explain this and why. If you find it difficult to explain why you like something, try looking it from the viewpoint of its colour, imagery, quality & quantity of text, its typographical style and finally the atmosphere it creates.

Also, pull together samples of your organisation’s current marketing materials – even if their only purpose is to explain what you don’t want from your new marketing materials!
Don’t feel that you have to stick to the same medium when explaining your inspiration and influences. If another medium (ie. television, film, music etc.) creates the atmosphere you want, then say so. Include what photographic styles you like and feel appropriate.

Here’s a thought – have you considered using mediums such as TV, radio or press coverage to acheive your goals rather than just print & web marketing?

The more clues you give to your designer, the more they will be successful in meeting your requirements.

No copy cats please

Remember, although you go through this process, professional designers worth their salt will not copy the ideas and materials you indicate… but they will use them to help kick-start the design process in your favour.

The dreaded subjects of time and money

Even if you can only provide rough figures, a budget expectation will give the designer a good idea of the type of solution they will realistically be able to provide. It will also indicate to you both whether you’re expectations are reasonable within the confines of the brief. If not, you may have to think again.

Of course, its up to you and how much you trust your designer to be honest about this and not to price at your budget’s upper end just because they know what it is. However, if you can’t trust the designer to do this then you probably should find one who you do feel you can trust about all aspects of the project.

Time-scales are also an important consideration – let your designer know if there are any specific deadlines that have to be met. i.e. do you already have a roadmap with clearly defined milestones you would like to achieve within in a projected timeframe? (Ooh, that sounded very corporate!)

What else?

Once you’ve written your creative brief, take a moment to think about and include any other bits and pieces that might be useful for the designer to know about. Such as any other projects on the go that might have an impact on the direction and success of this one. It would not be the first time conflicting messages have been issued from the same organisation.

Who’s the boss?

Within a larger organisation, it’s a good idea to indicate primary points of contact and their roles relating to the project. From a designer’s point of view, its always good to know who to take direction from and also much better if all communications come from one source but with a back up point of contact for emergencies.

The final say

All in all, briefs are a pretty good thing in my book. I always find that projects starting off with a good brief are more likely to meet their objectives, they also run more smoothly and tend to come in on time and on budget. Issues like misunderstandings, mis-directions and the need for kill-fees can be avoided too.

So, have fun and go write those briefs (hopefully for us).

Jon Dalrymple

Studio 9 Graphic Designers
121 Giles Street,
Edinburgh
EH6 6BZ

T: (0131) 553 1000