Writing an Effective Creative Brief for a Design Project

Recently, Kelly, Unmana and I were brainstorming over the design concept for a wallpaper for employees. Rather than using words to show what I found inspiring, I found designs from well-known companies that I thought had the same energy and bold colors we would want for our own. This step resulted in both Unmana and Kelly picking the same option and giving me a strong start to create something unique for Affinity Express. Working with a visual is a lot easier than two or more people coming to a common interpretation of terms like "bright, eye-catching, creative, etc."

Overall, when briefing your designer or creative team, it is important to come as a storyteller and inspire them. Here's one good example from the seminar:

"I once had an account executive give me a brief with a hole burnt into it. That got me curious. Then I noticed it was for Pizza Hut's fiery pizza. Right there, she got me. It's not the brief in itself that inspires you but how it's briefed. Everything must be filled with an opportunity to make you smile, to make you stop and think."

In many cases, the people providing instructions to designers are not from the same discipline. This can make communication difficult, as you probably don't speak the same "language." But it is absolutely critical that you give your team a thorough and clear description of what you want. Although Kelly and Unmana are very verbal because they are writers, we've evolved into a strong team because we learned to collaborate through email and by using visual examples.

If you focus on providing solid creative briefs, you will save both time and costs for projects, improve the morale of your team and produce better design work.

Thanks to Kelly Glass for her input on this post.