Basic recipe for a great creative brief
Writing a detailed design brief can be a little daunting. Making sure you include all the right information for your creative agency can be a tough prospect on top of an already busy schedule. In order to make life a little easier, here at Point Creative, we have penned a short piece to help you focus on what to include, plus, found at the bottom of this blog article, we have even created a brief template to download and keep, making future brief writing a simple and efficient task! Good eh?!
You will need:
1. A brief company overview
2. The challenge
3. The desired result
4. The target audience
5. The deliverables
6. The budget
7. The schedule
8. The look
9. Do’s and don’ts
The Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC/Gas mark 5. And turn it off – you don’t actually need an oven. Turn on your computer perhaps.
1. Company Overview
If you’re working with an agency for the first time, provide an overview of who you are and what you do. Perhaps a bit about the history of the company, your service offering, USPs, key competitors, how you have grown and where you are now.
2. The Challenge
What is it you need? What problem specifically do you need us to solve or help you overcome?
Here are some broad examples:
Increase awareness / Grow income / Engage employees / Change perception / Combat competitor activity / Embrace technological opportunities, i.e. Social Media / Gain stakeholder buy-in / Add value / Re-energise
3. The Desired Result (Objectives)
If you are results driven like us, what is it you need this brand/design/digital/marketing activity to do and what are the measurable results you would like it to achieve?
4. The Target Audience
Who do you want to aim your design at? Who will be using this product? Who are the intended customers? What are their needs and expectations? Knowing the audience you are trying to reach will help the agency home in on how best to develop the design
5. The Deliverables
This is where you can outline tangible deliverables, such as a complete brand identity design, literature, website development, social media campaign or perhaps presentation templates. It is absolutely fine for you to leave it in our hands to recommend the exact deliverables we feel will best meet your objectives.
6. The Budget
Yep, the cash. Your budget may effect what is possible from the very get-go. So make sure you have a firm idea before starting and get a full quote, including all the elements of your agreed brief (initial design, ongoing amends, print run etc) if we know what you can spend, we can make sure we use the budget as effectively as possible.
7. The Schedule
Before we start, we need to know when to finish! Without knowing when you require the new design to go live, we don’t know if it is achievable. Some items need to be planned way ahead of a deadline, some are much easier to complete quickly. Work out a clear idea and together work back from there.
8. The Look
Do you have company guidelines set up that we need to follow or have you seen something that has inspired you that you would like us to take on board? Alternatively, have we a free rein? Do you want us to produce something completely new and if so, any definite do not’s?
9. Do’s and Don’ts
Stating the obvious here but is there anything you have seen you really like or absolutely do not like. If we know what does/doesn’t work for you, we can take that into the equation.
Download the template here!