design brief writing help

A brand is a set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that last, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to chose your product over another – Seth Godin

You need to communicate with your audience about how you fulfil their wants and needs. Crafting your brand is the way to ensure this happens.

Consider the following scenario:

Your website isn’t converting visitors into customers.

And why is that? It’s because your website isn’t working for your customers so they’re bouncing back and finding someone else.

Chances are it’s not communicating your offering properly, or making you look professional. These are both things that will put your customers off and take them back to Google.

More often than not, a design agency is responsible for designing for your customers, to help solve problems for your company.

Therefore, it’s important that they know what your target audience looks like. If you’re struggling to identify your ideal consumer then it sounds like you need our audience persona worksheet.

We’ve also got a great post here about defining your target audience.

Essentially, you need to know their demographic traits and psychographic characteristics.

Think about who your ideal customer is, and build your persona around them.

On top of thinking about demographics and psychographics, I love asking the following questions:

I often find simple questions like this help a lot more when creating design work, than just listing demographic information and psychographic traits.

In our free customer persona worksheet we ask you to list out the basic information about your customers, but also:

Knowing this information will help inform your design project.

By knowing which brands they buy into, you can tell what sort of style they like. By addressing their objections, you can make educated website copy, and so on.

The more you can profile about your demographic, the more well rounded and informed your design brief will be. In turn, when handled by a professional design agency, this will result in a design project that drives real business results. By understanding who you’re trying to target, your chosen agency will ensure your branding is pitched at the right level.

Customer personas should take up quite a chunk of your design brief. Make sure you include 2 or 3 examples!

The objective of your design project is one thing, but the problem you’re facing as a business is something else entirely.

Goals and objectives focus on where you want to be.

The problem you’re facing focuses on the here and now.

Here’s an example:

“Our website isn’t generating enough leads for our business.”

That’s a problem that needs unpicked a little.

Although it can seem a little self-deprecating, deep diving into the real world problems you face as a business is the only way to solve them.

Try and get to the heart of the matter, rather than skirting around the edges. If you know there are deep rooted problems, get them noted down. It’s better to pain the fullest picture possible.

You’ve done the hard part, which is realising the problem you’re facing.

Now, steer into it, and with a professional design agency by your side, you’ll be able to overcome it.

Project specific information can be tricky to outline in your design brief.

This happens because more often than not, it’s beneficial to have your design agency make recommendations, rather than adding restrictions from the outset.

On top of that, you might not actually know what it is that you need.

However, there are always some things to consider.

Let’s look at website redesign project as an example:

Your project specification doesn’t need to be super technical.

But if you have specific requirements, it’s best to get them listed out now.

Other things to consider in your design brief are:

You’re going to your agency for their talent and recommendations. So don’t be completely closed off to changing things!

The more project specific information you can share about your project at this early stage in the process the better.

At the start of your design brief, you’ve given an overview into your business and the sector you work in.

But now, you have a chance to share even more about your business.

Give us the longer version of the elevator pitch.

Noting down the ins-and-outs might make your brief seem long and boring, but from an agency perspective, I can promise you that it’s not.

It’s good to know who you’re going into business with. And, the more your agency knows, the better they can help!

Showing your agency examples of work you like gives them an insight into what you’re trying achieve with your own branding.

For instance do you like dark and grunge branding? Or do you prefer a white, minimalistic colour palette? By giving your agency this information they will be able to visually build a picture of your dream brand. Otherwise they could go totally off track which will delay the project further.

Therefore, make sure you include some examples of work that you like when creating your design brief. This could could be in the form of links to other websites, screenshots, or a Pinterest board.

It’s funny, the level of influence that competitor’s can have on your business, and design brief.

You need to decide here, are you trying to stand out, or fit in? Are you a true disruptor? Take a look at our post on analysing and auditing your competitors brands for help.

There’s not a right or wrong answer here. This should be assessed on a case by case basis.

If you’re working on a branding project, knowing about your competitors can help your design agency to get an understanding of what they’re all about, and how you fit into their landscape.

Knowing your competitors is great.

Helping your agency to know your competitors not only eases their workload, but allows discussions about them to take place at an earlier stage in the process.

This can then throw up some interesting points to think about and consider.

It also means they don’t stray too close to what your competitors are doing when creating your new brand identity or website design .

You shouldn’t be scared of your competitors. You should know and respect them.

They can help you feed ideas for your business, whether that be positive or negative. Competitors can also become partners and trusted allies, so don’t overlook that approach.

By noting them down in your design brief, these are the sorts of discussions you can with your design agency, who can then help position you for success. Maybe there’s some gaps or opportunities that your competitors are taking advantage of that you’re not?

These are things which your chosen agency can tap into.

This question often helps design agencies to decide whether they can be involved with your project or not.

If you’re looking for a rapid turnaround time, and the agencies you reach out to have a lot of work on, they might decline the offer to work together.

And that’s fine.

“ASAP” is not an acceptable answer when talking about timescales either. There needs to be a reasonable level of understanding here, things don’t just happen overnight.

As a rough guide, here’s what I tell people at Canny:

Branding Project Timescales

Branding projects can take anywhere between 6 and 12 weeks. It really depends on their complexity.

If you’re looking at a brand identity project, with limited visual assets to be created, you’ll be down nearer the 6 week mark.

However, if you’re looking to completely rebrand your business , create new visual assets, brand guidelines, and roll it out into a large organisation, you’ll be looking towards the top end of that timescale.

Website Project Timescales

With website design projects, things do tend to take a little longer. 6 weeks as a minimum, up to 16 weeks for large eCommerce projects.

Timescales should really be put in place by your design agency when you decide to move forward.

One thing I always ask our new clients is:

“Is there an event/product launch/something else we can work towards with the project?”

And that always immediately helps get some initial plans in place.

Try to avoid reaching out to design agencies at the last minute. The earlier you can bring them in on your plans the better!

Nobody likes rush jobs and it doesn’t lead to the most creative output. It’s pressure for pressure’s sake. Try and avoid them at all costs!

Ah, project budgets. Everyone loves to talk about money, but nobody ever wants to show their hand first.

Thankfully, we have an article about project budgets , and why it’s important to share your budget with your design agency.

Think about this:

Design agencies get approached for work on a regular basis.

Amongst the requests for work, there’s often a lot of rubbish, some half-decent leads, and sometimes, a real diamond in the rough.

You want to be that diamond!

Now, telling an agency your project budget isn’t the only way to do this. But it’s another thing that you can do to build trust and transparency from the outset.

Nobody wants their time wasted.

Picture this:

You have a 30 minute to 1 hour call with a design agency. And then you send the brief. With no budget information.

Your design agency reads through it, and comes back with a proposal.

It’s 5 times over what you thought you’d be paying. You’ve lost an hour of your time, the agency has also lost a significant chunk of time by writing out the proposal.

By being clear with your budget early on, you can make sure everyone is on the same page right from the get go. And, that’s the fairest way of doing business.

Now, you don’t need to list the budget to the penny. But just giving some indication of what you’re working with goes a long way!

If you’re really unsure on how much certain things cost, we have some great posts about pricing that are listed out below.

Keep in mind that we’re a growing design agency based in the North East of England. If you’re in London, or New York City, the investment you’re going to be making is going to a lot more.

But don’t let that dissuade you. Good work costs good money. But, it also gets you real results!

You need to consider the different elements that you require to complete your design project.

For example, you need to consider:

This ensures that you are equipped with all of the right assets at the end of the project. You don’t want to be left resizing things because you haven’t given your agency the specifics.

There’s nothing more frustrating than “design by committee.” However, it does happen, and it can be managed.

But there always needs to be a lead point of contact in every design project.

One voice of reason that can be used to add balance to the discussions, and go between both the agency and the company.

This person should know the project inside and out. From goals and objectives through to audience personas and competitor information.

Clearly listing out the contact details of the project contact, and the best time and way to get hold of them, will make things run a lot smoother.

The design agency should also do their part here and once the project kicks off, they’ll assign a member of staff (usually an Account Manager) to handle their side of the communication.

How Your Design Project will Be Awarded

If you’re considering working with a number of agencies, or firing out your design brief to several choices, then you need to make sure they know how the project will be awarded.

For the record:

We don’t believe in distributing your brief to a huge number of agencies. It’s not respectful of their time.

That said, we appreciate you’ll want to collect several proposals and opinions. 3 to 5 agencies is a fair number to approach.

Not sure how to choose an agency to work with?

Now, how will your project be awarded?

Typically, there are several elements at play:

There are any number of factors you could use to judge the responses.

It’s normal to write into your design brief, the percentage and weighting of each of the awarding criteria.

This helps to show your design agency what’s most important in your decision making process and allows them to tailor their responses accordingly.

The required response section of a design brief is pretty straightforward to write.

You need to let your agency know what you’re expecting back, by when, and how to submit it.

It’s simply a case of listing out what you expect to receive back.

Perhaps this is as simple as:

Tell the agency how to submit their proposal, what to include, by when, and you’re off to the races.

But before you go firing your design brief off to every agency you can find, let’s have a look at…

The “Do Nots” of Writing a Design Brief

Now that we’ve covered the ins-and-outs of writing a good design brief, let’s look at three things that you should avoid with your design brief.

Do Not Send Your Design Brief to Everyone

There are thousands of design agencies out there, but you don’t need to send you brief to every single one of them.

Find four or five that you like the look of, research them thoroughly, and if they look like a good fit for your project, send the brief to them.

One large email with twenty agencies copied in just isn’t acceptable. It’s not respectful of their time or their work, and you’re going to end up looking a bit silly when nobody replies.

Also keep in mind that if you send your design brief out to twenty agencies, you’re likely going to have to field twenty phone calls.

Be picky! It’ll help everyone in the long run.

Do Not Skip Over the Budget Section

Design budgets are important. They help to align expectations between your agency and your business.

You don’t need to list every single detail out, but having a rough idea of what you could possibly invest, is better than no idea at all.

Also, don’t be closed off to being at least a little flexible. There might be much better solutions available at a higher investment level.

Do Not Forget to Include a Timescale Around Your Decision

Nothing is worse for a design agency owner, than projects stuck in the “possibly / possibly not” pile indefinitely.

In a design agency, you’re trading time for money, so being able to plan your workload is key.

Make sure you’re clear around when decisions will be made, and stick to the timescale you set.

Design Brief Example

When it comes to writing your design brief it can be very tricky.

After all, what level of information do you include and how do you effectively communicate your wants and needs?

Take a look at the below example as we walk you through the process step-by-step.

This is simply an example to show you what kind of information your design agency will require. When it comes to measures of success for instance, simply stating ‘we want more traffic’ is not good enough. How much do you want to increase your website and by when?

This level of detail will save time later on.

It’s Time to Reach Out to Design Agencies

Now that you’ve learned how to write a design brief, and created your shortlist of design agencies, it’s time to start reaching out.

If you’re still not sure on how to find a design agency, you should contact us to discuss your design project.

Now, it’s time to get the whole process started.

Your design brief is a tool to be used when sourcing an agency and building out your design project.

Quite often, it’ll be added to or modified. And that’s exactly how it should be used. It’s a starting point.

Naturally you’ll get ideas as you go, things will change, goals will become easily reachable or be out of reach. Your focus might change altogether and things you thought would work at first, might not work in practice. It’s a creative process and your design brief will grow with you.

Your design brief should be used to reach out to agencies, and referred back to at key milestones within the project. Regardless of what sector you work in, whether you’re building a healthcare brand or you work in tech and IT, this important document will drive your project in the right direction.

Other Design Brief Templates in the Series

As well as The Design Brief Template we’ve also created a whole range of other brief templates that you download and use completely free.

So, no matter what sort of creative project you need to write a brief for, we’ve got you covered. Check them out below:

The Branding Brief Template

The Branding Brief Template will help you get the brief for your company branding project right.

From straight up branding projects for small businesses, to the full scale branding of larger companies – The Branding Brief Template has all types of branding projects covered.

Download now Read the post

The Rebranding Brief Template

The Rebranding Brief Template will help you get the brief for your rebranding project right.

From smaller rebranding projects, to full scale enterprise rebranding – The Rebranding Brief Template has all sizes of rebranding projects covered.

The Web Design Brief Template

The Web Design Brief Template will help you get the brief for your web design project right.

Whether you’re creating a new website for your business, or redesigning your existing website – then The Web Design Brief Template is going to be useful.

The Video Brief Template

The Video Brief Template will help you get the foundation for your video project right.

Whether you’re embarking on a corporate video, documentary, explainer, or any other type of video project – then The Video Brief Template is sure to help you out.

The Marketing Brief Template

The Marketing Brief will help you get the brief for any of your marketing projects right.

Whether you’re looking to grow traffic to your website, or increase conversions from existing traffic – then The Marketing Brief Template is here to help.

The Content Brief Template

The Content Brief Template will help you to generate interest in your brand/business in no time!

This brief is perfect for marketers out there looking to work with an agency to strategise, create, and market their content. With content marketing becoming a must in business – The Content Brief Template is designed to help you progress your own content marketing strategy.

The Packaging Design Brief Template Cover Image

The Packaging Brief Template

The Packaging Design Brief template will help you communicate the needs of your packaging project.

From cartons and bottles to boxes and envelopes, knowing what to include in your brief can be confusing – that’s why we designed The Packaging Design Brief template, to help you make sense of the packaging madness.

The RFP / RFQ Template

The RFP / RFQ Template will help you to create an easy to understand document that communicates the needs of your project.

Whether you’re embarking on a branding, web design, brochure design, packaging design, or any other type of design project – then The RFP / RFQ Template can help.

The Creative Brief Bundle

And, if you don’t want to download all of our templates individually, then we have you covered with The Creative Brief Bundle.

Our brief templates are far and away the most downloaded resource on our entire website, and now we’re bringing them to you as one big bundle.

To find out how we can help, simply get in touch.

How to Write a Branding Brief (Template Included!)

How to Choose a Graphic Design Agency

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How to Write a Web Design Brief (Template Included!)

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How to Write a Design Brief (With Templates and Examples)

Haillie Parker

February 9, 2023

Max 10min read

No matter how many hours we spend staring into our dog’s eyes, none of us are mind readers. 🔮 🐶

Luckily, there are ways to combat our lack of telepathy in the workplace—especially when it comes to design concepts that we imagine so vividly in our heads, but have no idea how to recreate IRL.

What’s the solution? Writing detailed and practical design briefs, of course!

Like placing an order at a restaurant, design briefs tell the designer what you want out of a request. It’s how they understand what the project is, what the task requires, and where to start.

The key to a highly effective design brief is to be both clear and concise—which is challenging when you’re dealing with complex tasks or multiple non-negotiable project requirements . But we’re here to help with tips and examples to take your design briefs to the next level. 💜

Whether your design team is looking to standardize your briefs and requests, or you’re part of an agency commissioning a company project, this article has you covered. Read along for a fresh take on writing efficient design briefs including the essential elements, how-to breakdowns, a customizable template, and more!

What is a Design Brief?

Step 1: choose your design brief project management software, step 2: the design brief project description, step 3: the design brief objective and smart goals, step 4: the design brief’s target audience, step 5: your budget and timeline, step 6: the expected deliverables, step 7: anything else you deem important , step 8: share it with the team, design brief template.

A design brief is a written document that lays the groundwork for a design project with the outlined goals, scope, and approach for the request. Similar to your project roadmap , the design brief is a designer’s guiding light when it comes to the where , what , when , and why of a specific request.

Design briefs typically pass through many hands before they land on the designer’s to-do list. With approvals from all project managers and stakeholders , the brief should be thorough but to the point, identifying the approved timeline, end product, and budget (if applicable).

Creative Brief Example Made In ClickUp Docs

On a deeper level, briefs are also a way for the designer to connect and align with the person making the request. In this sense, try to use your brief as a collaborative tool for eliminating the general confusion that comes with additional back-and-forth phone calls, messages, and emails.

But while it’s important to include key details and context to your requests, your design brief should still be, well, brief . You want it to be long enough to describe the project and communicate your request without overwhelming the designer with a multi-page pamphlet that runs margin-to-margin. 🥵

How do these ideas come together in a design brief? We’ll show you!

How to Write a Design Brief (With Examples)

In an exciting turn of events, there’s no set-in-stone format you must stick to when writing an effective design brief. 🤩

Your team will find the type of brief that serves your design project management style best in terms of length, detail, and work style. Small requests or smaller-scale projects may not require as hefty of a brief, but there are still key elements that all briefs share.

Product Brief Example Made in ClickUp Docs

Relying on a template, a survey-style request, or a standardized document structure are all great ways to collect the necessary information to build a design brief. The key is to keep it consistent! Here is our step-by-step guide for writing effective design briefs with real-life examples. ✏️

Follow these eight steps from top to bottom—or skip to the next section for a free customizable template to make the process even easier! 🤓

Design projects are collaborative by nature and your ideal design project management software will have the features to support that! Powerful design tools will alleviate some of the stress and streamline daily processes involved in your design workflow with the ability to organize, edit, share, and manage projects of any size.

And since design briefs are commonly formatted in a document, your chosen project management tool will likely include a built-in document editor or integrations to bring all of the right information together across apps.

Think of your design brief as a reliable source of truth—a document that you can refer back to at any time for the most accurate information and progress updates. The best example of this? ClickUp Docs . 📃

ClickUp Docs are your destination for all things text-based in your Workspace. In true ClickUp fashion, Docs offer a ton of features like nested pages, Slash Commands , styling options, embedding, and advanced settings to customize the look and functionality of your Doc.

You’ll love how far your can take your design briefs with real-time editing, @mentions in comments , and secure sharing and permissions via a simple link. Plus, Docs can be connected to your workflows so any updates that happen in your document are automatically reflected in related tasks and other areas of your workspace.

Context is everything and this section of your design brief should give exactly that!

Give a brief but descriptive overview of what your project is and what it will be used for. This doesn’t have to dig too deep, but a sentence or two that clearly states your request and what you’ll be using it for is a great starting point for the designer.

This section may also include a bit about the company or client commissioning the design. What the company does, its primary services, values, and brand identity are common details to find in this section.

Our social media marketing agency is redesigning our website to feature a new home page, blog section, and portfolio. We are a small team of eight members who work with 50 businesses in our area, and all of our work is currently clustered together on our outdated webpage. We have matured as a brand since we created our initial website and grown as a company, and we want our new website to reflect that.

Describe the problem this project will address and the big-picture idea that you’re hoping to achieve with it. Be direct with the purpose you want the project to serve and use this section to align the design team with the client’s overall vision and objective through SMART goals .

P.S., SMART stands for Specific , Measurable , Attainable , Relevant , and Time-bound .

Want to learn more about SMART goals and why they’re so important? Check out our goals resources to write and implement goals across departments!

We want our redesigned website to reflect our brand identity better, drive more traffic to our services, and increase email newsletter sign-ups by 25% by the end of our next fiscal quarter.

The next section of your brief covers the who of it all. Not so much related to who you are as a company requesting a design, but who the project is targeted to.

This is where the client commissioning the project will describe their ideal customer, audience, user personas, and use cases . This design is like your first impression—a way to show customers that you have a solution to a specific problem they are facing and that your project meets their needs.

It is crucial for the designer to understand who you’re trying to reach through this request to meaningfully connect with those customers’ needs.

Our target market audiences are female entrepreneurs in the San Diego area in the 25-34 and 35-44 age ranges. These clients want to grow their business by investing in paid ads on social media platforms and want resources to improve and increase their online presence.

Now we’re starting to move into the details and logistics sections of your design brief. ⏰💸

Make sure the timeline provided is realistic and feasible for what the brief is asking. If there are any budgetary or resource constraints, this is the time to lay them down.

Designers need to know when the project is due for its first round of edits, when they can expect feedback from the client, and any key milestones , task dependencies , or deadlines tied to the request. This will help establish clear communication between the designer and the client so all of their expectations are met, and avoid potential bottlenecks while the project is in progress.

Pro tip: Also note if there is any flexibility with the expected budget and timeline.

Our ideal timeline from start to finish is six months. We are announcing our new website at an event in March but want to quietly launch the website a month prior. This extra month will give us some wiggle room if there are any setbacks. We would like to approve the mockups and wireframes, and go through two rounds of edits before we launch.

This section is all about the file details and formatting in which you want to receive the project. If necessary or applicable, specify the size, file type, naming process, and deliverables you’re expecting. AKA, what is your preferred type of video, image, or software to work with and how should they share it with you?

We will approve initial ideas and designs from our digital whiteboard software and review all wireframes in Figma.

To make sure that all of the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed, add any other relevant information to the end. This may include key contacts to reach out to if the designer has any urgent questions, approval process details, key dates, client mockups, and more!

This is a great time to specify anything that you do not want to see from this project and inspo images to give the designer a clear idea of what to work off of.

Check our virtual whiteboard for recent work we’ve done with our clients, rough sketches of what we’re imagining for our new website, some research, media, and more!

Our suggestion? ClickUp Whiteboards ! 🎨

Mockup drawings and brainstorming on ClickUp Whiteboards

ClickUp Whiteboards are highly visual, collaborative, and productive! What’s more, they’re also the only whiteboard software on the market that can convert any object on your board into a customizable task and connect it to your workflows.

With tools for drawing, uploading media, embedding, styling, and real-time editing, ClickUp Whiteboards are built to capture your ideas the moment they happen so you can act on them instantly. Seriously, Whiteboards are every designer’s dream. ✨

Plus, your Whiteboard stays updated at all times, wiping out the need for multiple tabs, constant refreshing, and confusion caused by lengthy text-based descriptions.

RE: Step 1—design briefs are collaborative!

You need the ability to quickly share, edit, and update your design briefs via custom permissions and convenient sharing options like a simple link. This will get the entire team quickly get on the same page (literally) and stay on target. 🎯

Like in a bad game of telephone, inconsistent design briefs gloss over key ideas and eventually lose the main point of the project entirely. But customizable templates are a surefire way to guarantee every detail is clearly stated.

Think of pre-built templates as a springboard for standardizing the way you write your design briefs. They’re created to simplify and streamline the design brief process so everyone involved can focus on what matters most—the project itself.

The Design Brief Template by ClickUp is your one-stop solution for writing thorough and valuable creative briefs. This template applies a designated List to your Workspace with separate views for managing tasks, timelines, and your overall direction.

In your design brief List view , you’ll find pre-made customizable tasks for everything from client sessions to gathering assets , and seven custom statuses for total transparency. But the coolest feature of this template is definitely the creative brief Whiteboard with colored sections, sticky notes, and diagrams to solidify your project vision, brand, resources, notes, and more.

The Design Brief Template in Whiteboards by ClickUp

This template also comes with a thorough how-to ClickUp Doc to walk you through every feature to ensure you’re using it to the fullest extent.

Pro tip :

The Help Doc in the Design Brief Template shows off a ton of styling and formatting features to use as inspiration when writing your design brief Docs in ClickUp.

Set banners at the top of your Doc and throughout the page for a clear outline of information, embed videos, add a table of contents, and more. Or, layer another one of ClickUp’s pre-built templates on top of your Doc to keep the process moving along.

Write Your Next Design Brief in ClickUp

There you have it! Not only are you set up for success with the eight essential steps for writing design briefs, but you’ve got a flexible, free , and customizable template to lighten the load.

The take-home idea though is not just how to write a functional brief, but how to make the most of it. And that’s where ClickUp can help you take your processes to new heights. ✅

ClickUp Docs, Chat, and List view in ClickUp

ClickUp is the ultimate productivity platform for teams to bring all of their work together into one collaborative space, no matter your use case or work style. Its feature list is loaded with hundreds of time-saving tools to make work management easier and more convenient than ever—with 15 ways to visualize your projects, over 1,000 integrations , in-app chat, and more!

Access everything you need to write effective design briefs including ClickUp Docs, Whiteboards, 100MB of storage, unlimited tasks, and more at absolutely no cost when you sign up for ClickUp’s Free Forever Plan .

And when you’re ready to boost your productivity even further, unlock even more advanced features for as little as $5 .

Questions? Comments? Visit our Help Center for support.

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How to write a rock solid design brief (with examples)

Design briefs are an essential part of every successful design project’s workflow. They align everyone involved on the purpose, milestones, and end goals of the project.

A well-written design brief is like a roadmap:

On the other hand, a design brief that contains nonessential information and gaping holes causes even the best designers to struggle to do great work. Even worse, running a project without a design brief results in chaos with countless phone calls, ping-pong email threads and lack of clarity on design direction and project milestones.

In this guide, we’re going to explain the benefits and show you how to write an effective design brief so that you can make your creative projects a roaring success.

What we'll cover

Table of contents, what is a design brief, the benefits of using a design brief.

Who writes the design brief?

How to write a design brief

3 design brief examples to use for inspiration, key takeaways.

A design brief is a short document—typically one or two pages—that explains the strategy for a design project’s visual direction and aesthetic. It also outlines the goals of the project and maps out the plan for how your design team will get there. This plan can include the number of versions and design mockups expected over the course of the design project , a visual mood board and design inspiration examples, branding guidelines for the design team and expected delivery dates

A design brief is a type of creative brief , which typically encompasses all the possible elements of a creative project.

The main focus of the design brief should be on the results and outcomes of the design concepts and visual direction. It should also relate that design vision to the business objectives of the project. In other words, it allows the client to focus on what they want to achieve before any design work starts on the project.

Finally, design briefs are usually signed off by the client and design team at set milestones in the project to ensure everything remains on track.

Starting a new project with a design brief is beneficial to both clients and designers. For example, a design brief:

Who writes the design brief?

Various opinions exist, but most designers would expect an initial design brief from the client. From there, it can become a working document that gets approved by both parties. But there are other options:

With large companies, it’s typically a Company Director, Marketing Manager, or Marketing Executive who writes the design brief. In smaller companies, it’s usually the business owner who writes it.

Designer

Sometimes the design brief is written by the designer rather than the client. Designers usually have a template to be completed by the client that ensures they have all the information they need to start work.

Collaborative team

A third option involves the client and designer collaborating on the brief. This allows both parties to clarify goals and objectives, get input from stakeholders, and sign-off quicker.

The point is that both parties have a vested interest in getting the design brief right and signed-off before any design work starts. The client has to initiate the process, even if it’s asking a designer to meet and discuss the project so they can get ideas down. Some designers will have a standard template they’ll ask clients to complete first and then flesh it out with more details in a meeting.

Whomever writes the design brief needs to include key elements so that everyone involved has a clear picture of the requirements.

You can create design briefs in different styles and formats. But a good design brief outlines the deliverables and scope of the project, including any outcomes, timing, and budget.

Design briefs are used across a wide range of projects including those in the fields of architecture, interior design, fashion design, and industrial design, as well as graphic design, web design, ecommerce, and branding and rebranding.

Depending on the nature of the project and the client requirements, there might be slightly different sections, but as a general rule of thumb, a good design brief generally includes:

An overview of the business

Goals and objectives of the design project, the target audience and market, the competition, project design information, project deliverables, project timescales, project budget, project approval.

Let’s look at each element in more detail.

Design briefs should always include an overview of the client’s business so that all stakeholders are familiar with the brand and what it stands for.

Key elements to include in this section:

Questions to address:

A design brief needs to describe:

Both need to be specific and measurable so that you can evaluate the success or failure of the project. For example:

To build a thorough design brief, address questions such as:

It’s essential to understand the target audience and market for the design.

For example, a website designed for teenagers will look and work differently than one designed for corporate decision-makers.

Determine what outcome will resonate with your target audience by considering questions such as:

Tobi day persona template statistics with woman picture

Can your budget and schedule accommodate further market research?

Note: If the client doesn’t have this information or more is required, then you may need additional budget.

Knowing the brand’s competition helps inform the design process and clarify the strategy. For example, what works for your competitors will likely work for you, but you need to know how to stand out from the crowd.

Make a list of direct and indirect competitors. For example, when launching its Watch Edition, Apple listed competitors as:

Implement competitive intelligence into your brief by outlining answers to these questions:

Clients don’t have to provide creative direction–the design team will handle that. However, it’s good to list requirements about what to include or exclude.

Include any reference materials:

Uncover what your client has in mind by asking these discovery questions:

Both parties need to have a clear understanding of what outcome is expected. Make sure expectations are set on both sides.

Include any of the following details about your deliverables:

Get on the same page as your client by asking outcome-based questions such as:

Clients need to state when they want to start and complete the project. If timescales don’t fit with the designer’s other commitments, it could be a non-starter.

Aside from starting and ending the project, there will be other milestones along the way like concepts, final designs, development work, and reviews. Clients also need to account for providing their timely feedback throughout the project – otherwise, they could end up delaying the process and missing deadlines.

In short, both parties need to be realistic and flexible to account for potential changes or unexpected obstacles to project timescales.

Determine a timeline by asking:

Both the client and the designer need to be aware of the budget and constraints before the work commences.

The project budget has to align with project deliverables to avoid the possibility of scope creep.

Don’t avoid the subject. Discuss it as soon as possible so both parties know what to expect.

In this section, list all the key stakeholders, contributors, and points of contact within the project with their assigned roles. You'll need a primary point of contact for the project, plus a person responsible for the final sign-off on all project deliverables.

Make sure all the details are listed, including their name, email address, and phone number. Remember to include any third-parties involved in the project, such as copywriters or web developers.

Here are three different styles of design briefs to give you an idea of what’s possible.

1. Hush Puppies

The design brief example from Hush Puppies ticks all the boxes. It’s presented in a formal layout with clear section headings highlighting each component of the design brief.

2. Quaker Oats

Quaker oats brief example - the big picture, objective, problem and the guideline

The next design brief from Quaker Oats has a different layout, but when you look closely, you’ll see it has all the essential ingredients. The background facts also provide handy information on the problem and what Quaker Oats want to achieve with their campaign.

3. Apple Watch

Apple Watch edition - design brief background, positioning, problem and objective

The final example for the Apple Watch Edition uses some existing photos to add substance to the design brief. But aside from that, you can see all the required elements, plus the “mandatories” of what and what not to mention.

Good design briefs are essential for any successful design project as they benefit both the client and the design team by:

The information you include in a design brief and how you manage the approval of the design plans can make or break your design project. Before you begin creative production, be sure to:

Ziflow is the perfect tool for successful sign-off of design briefs by the client and design team as all stakeholders get real-time updates and notifications throughout the review and approval. Learn more about using Ziflow's creative collaboration platform to review and approve your design projects from brief to final version .

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What is a Design Brief and How to Write One

A design brief is an important document that outlines your design project so that you and your client understand exactly what to expect in terms of deliverables and project workflow. It’s a key project management tool that also helps you manage client expectations , so it’s important to learn how to write one to keep your web design projects on track.

Whether you’ve used design briefs in the past or not, you should consider adding them to every project workflow. Here’s everything you need to know about how to write a design brief to keep your web design projects on track, feel more organized, and delight your clients.

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What is a design brief?

A design brief, also known as a creative brief, is a project management document that allows you to identify the scope, scale, and core details of your upcoming design project. It is similar to a proposal or statement of work with the key difference being that in a design brief, your client has already decided that they want to work with you—you’ve already closed the deal, now it’s time to lay out the details.

When you include the right information, the design brief has the potential to be one of your most powerful project management tools. It can be used to inform design decisions and guide the overall workflow of your project; from conception to completion. A well-written creative brief helps you to identify and avoid roadblocks early on, and it can even streamline and accelerate your prototyping , design, and development process.

"The design brief has the potential to be one of your most powerful project management tools."

While every designer and agency tackles creative briefs in their own way, you’ll get the most out of it by collaborating with your client at the onset of a project. This way, your design brief allows you to clarify goals and objectives, get input from important stakeholders, and, ultimately, hold both parties accountable for the final product.

If you and your clients both understand each other’s responsibilities and have a clear vision for what the final deliverables will be before any work begins, you’ll likely avoid many unnecessary revisions or, “We didn’t ask for that” moments during and after the project.

Kicking off a new project with a design brief provides so many other benefits for your project workflow. Here are just a few more benefits that it will give you—and your client. A design brief:

Your design brief is valuable even after you’ve completed and submitted your project. If you’ve taken the time to draft a comprehensive design brief, you’ll be able to use it as the basis for a case study to use in future pitches. If you’re unfamiliar with how to do this, check out our detailed walkthrough on how to write a web design case study that lands new clients . If your client projects are similar, with repeatable elements, there’s also no need to write your creative brief from scratch every time you start a new project. Using a creative brief template can save you time and energy.

Free Design Brief Template : Check out the design brief template to get started.

The anatomy of a design brief

Design briefs can come in a variety of formats, and can include different information depending on the type of project you’re working on and the client you’re working with. To give you a sense of what to include and how to structure the document itself, here is a breakdown of the core sections of an effective design brief.

1. Company profile

Your design brief should include an overview of your client’s business so that all members of your team are familiar with your client, their brand, and any internal factors that can influence the direction or success of the project.

Here are the key elements to include in this section:

Including these important details about your client’s brand, decision makers, and the context for why they want and need the project can help you get to know your client as they see themselves from a brand perspective. It helps to know exactly which stakeholders are responsible for certain deliverables, and who you should be contacting if an issue arises.

"It helps to know exactly which stakeholders are responsible for certain deliverables, and who you should be contacting if an issue arises."

You may have already researched your client and pitched them your services, leading to them working with you. If that’s the case, feel free to use the information collected during your research. Just be sure that your client reviews the information to confirm its accuracy and to add any relevant information you might have missed.

If your client proactively reached out to you to work on a certain project, they should be responsible for sharing this information with you, upfront. However, they may not know that it’s their responsibility to share this information.

It can help to create or use a design brief template , form or questionnaire for your client to fill out with all the details you need to know before you start the project. If you want to be strategic about the types of clients you work with, consider posting the form on your “Contact Us” page on your website, to effectively screen clients. Those who put in the work upfront are more likely to be organized, responsible, and clear about their objectives.

When working with larger clients—especially when projects involve multiple stakeholders—you should also formally acknowledge who within their organization has the final approval for the project. This transparency not only helps keep everyone accountable, it also strengthens client relationships.

Take the time to get to know your client and/or their team in a kickoff call, and be sure to ask any clarifying questions. This is a good time to clearly state if you foresee any potential challenges or misunderstandings. Add any relevant details to your creative brief as needed.

You might also like: 4 Crucial Steps to Building Strong Client Relationships .

2. Project overview

Provide a detailed description of the project, including as much context and background as possible in the project overview section of your design brief. You can get the answers you need for this section in the design brief by asking your client in your kickoff meeting or when they fill out your questionnaire.

Your overview should define the scope and scale of the project and its deliverables. Here are some example questions you can include in your design brief template to ensure that you’re consistently asking the right questions:

Now that you have a clear idea of what they want, it’s time to investigate why your client wants to work on this project. You should try to answer this question by identifying the web design problems your client faces that compelled them to hire you for this project.

Sometimes, by digging a little deeper into the why, you can discover alternative solutions that strategically meet the needs of your clients.

You might also like: Get to the Heart of Your Clients' Ecommerce Dilemmas With the 5 Whys .

3. Goals and objectives

design brief: 2 pencils on a yellow background

Designing websites may be a core offering that is central to your business, but to a client (especially those in ecommerce), a website is their business. Using numbers or plain language, share measurable results for what this project is trying to achieve.

Goals reflect the main purpose of your project, while objectives represent the smaller, measurable milestones that, together, add up to achieve the goal. Some sample examples of goals and their corresponding objectives for a website build or redesign could be:

Goal: The client wants more traffic to their website Objectives:

Goal: The client is looking to drive more revenue from their website Objectives:

Goal: The client wants to increase engagement with their online content Objectives:

Once you’ve established the goals and objectives and have recorded them in your design brief, you can “work backwards” and identify the technical steps you need to take to achieve them.

By establishing goals and objectives upfront, you’re not only suited to make more informed decisions around your design, you’ll also be able to prove your business value to the client beyond their website aesthetics. This sets you up to become a trusted partner, leading to a better quality relationship with your client over the long term.

You might also like: Leading Successful Discovery Sessions: Set the Stage for Client Projects .

4. Target audience

Make sure to develop a solid understanding of the users who will be interacting with your client’s website. Understanding your client’s target audience will inform your design decisions.

If you’re lucky, your client will already be equipped with relevant research about their target audience and be willing to share it with you. However, not all business owners will have this information. If you find yourself in this situation, you have two options. You can try to use this opportunity to offer user research services as a value-add to the project. If your client isn’t interested, try asking them who their ideal customer is, and work together to build an audience persona through discussion.

Your audience persona should include demographics such as age, gender, and location, as well as psychographics like media consumption habits, values, and related interests. This information can reveal important details about what resonates most with your client’s customers online.

For example, are your client’s customers more likely to use mobile more than desktop? Do certain colors resonate more with their lifestyle? What UX or UI considerations are missing? What additional universal design principles can you apply to improve site accessibility?

If your client already has an active website, advanced segments in Google Analytics reports can provide both demographics and psychographics insights. It’s a great starting point if your client is unsure about who they’re attracting to their online store and why. Your client may find that their target audience isn’t the type of user visiting their website.

By defining the target audience in your design brief, you’ll be prepared to make informed decisions during the design process.

You might also like: 5 Questions You Should Ask Your Clients Before Every Web Design Project .

5. Design requirements

When it comes to the design requirements section in your design brief, be sure to include the relevant details so that you’re not making several rounds of revisions or chasing your client for files that are the correct size.

By including specific design requirements in your design brief, you can ensure that you and your team have everything needed to work efficiently and meet client expectations. Including these details upfront also reduces the risk of revisions or complete redesigns.

While requirements may vary for each project, you can include any of the following details about your deliverables:

It is also worthwhile to include any reference materials in this section. These could include brand guidelines, mockups, mood boards (check out these intuitive mood board apps ), and anything else you feel could assist with the completion of the project.

You may be collaborating more closely with your client on this aspect of the project, especially if they—or other members of your team—will be working on creating certain assets or design elements (such as logos, graphics, videos, photos, etc.) while you’re designing and building the website. Communication here is key. Get as much information recorded in your design brief as you can.

The more thorough your supporting documentation, the less chance you’ll experience challenges or delays while working through the design itself.

6. Budget and schedule

If you work in an agency, budgets and schedules can be seen as an afterthought and left for the client services team to deal with. However, these project components are just as vital for creatives as they are for your account services counterparts, and are imperative for the freelancers to address early on in the design process.

Getting a clear understanding of your client’s project budget allows you to effectively manage their expectations about project deliverables, while also managing how your team uses their time.

When initially meeting with your client to scope out their project, make sure you allocate budget across all disciplines: research, design, copywriting, development, coordination, testing, and review. That way, you’re much more likely to avoid scope creep or feature creep .

Without a clear budget, it can be easy for you or your team to dive deep into a job and lose track of how many billable hours you’ve logged. To help manage time spent on billable tasks, use one of the best time tracking apps to stay on track and within the budgetary limits of the project.

The schedule

Projects need to stay on track and be delivered to your client on time to stay profitable—that’s why you need to include some form of a schedule in your design brief. Your schedule should be realistic and account for potential changes or unexpected challenges.

It can be tempting to commit to completing a project on a compressed timeline, but that often does more harm than good. Give yourself some breathing room in your workback plan so that if you do need more time, or if your client takes longer than expected to provide feedback before your next project milestone, it doesn’t mean you and your team will be working 12-hour days just to get back on track.

An effective schedule should not only highlight the final deadline, but also identify any milestones between the beginning and end of the project. It is crucial that your team can mutually anticipate completion dates for concepts, final designs, development work, and review periods.

While schedules are vital for keeping your team on track, they can also give your client some insight into the design process. Some clients simply won’t know how long it takes to research, design, and build a website. It’s important to set the expectation of what’s realistic when creating your design brief. This, just like the entire design brief, ensures your team and client are on the same page from the beginning.

You might also like: A Web Designer’s Guide to Project Schedules .

Start using the design brief in your project workflow

Done well, your design brief has the potential to be one of your most valuable project management tools. It’s worth the time to learn how to write a design brief to keep your web design projects on track. Try to incorporate these tips into your design or development workflow so your projects begin with a strategic start.

We’ve put together a sample design brief template that you can use as your starting point for each project you work on. Feel free to make changes and update it as you see fit. Download your design brief template below and let us know what you think!

Free Template : Check out the design brief template to get started.

About the author

Simon Heaton

Simon is a coffee lover, former agency digital strategist, and Shopify Partners' Growth Marketing Manager. When he isn’t hustling at the Shopify HQ, you can most likely find him dining at restaurants across the city or brushing up on the latest design trends.

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Ten Tips for Writing an Effective Design Brief

I recently read that good creative briefs enhance collaboration between creative and marketing 1 . With this in mind, I wanted to share an article that will help you compile a successful creative brief so you can get the best results for your campaign.

This tip sheet was written by and is reprinted with the permission of Delphine Hirasuna and published in @Issue, Volume 2, No. 2.

Whether the project is an annual report, product design, packaging, Web site, interactive product, marketing brochure, corporate identity program or environmental graphics, companies can save time and misunderstanding by putting together a design brief before interviewing prospective design firms. Unfortunately, too few corporate managers take the time to prepare a brief, thinking that "talking it through" in a meeting will suffice. A written brief offers two important advantages, however: 1) It demands that in-house managers clarify the project's business objectives at the start, and 2) it gives designers a summary of key corporate points to refer to later on. But keep the design brief short, and recognize that its purpose is to provide enough information to assess the proposed assignment realistically without discouraging creative exploration.

1. Corporate Profile Even if your corporate rename is more famous than Lady Gaga, don't assume everyone knows what you do. People may only know your company by name, or have an outdated image of what you do, or think of you too narrowly in terms of one product or one market area. A designer's erroneous assumptions about your business can skew the entire opening discussion, so first provide a synopsis of your current line of business, market emphasis and reach, along with pertinent historical highlights.

2. Market Position Provide a realistic evaluation of your organization, service or brand relative to your competitors. How is your company unique or different? What is your standing in the industry? What marketing communications techniques are most effective among your competitors?

3. Current Situation Explain the situation that instigated the need for this project. Examples: Our brand identity isn't working anymore. The Generation X thinks of us fondly from their youth, but their children consider us too conservative. We're about to launch a big push into global markets, and our packaging hasn't changed since we were a regional company. We just went public and need to be taken seriously on Wall Street.

4. Business Objectives What do you want to achieve? If it's a Web site, what points are you pushing? If it's a corporate capabilities piece, what are the key messages for the year? If it's a product design, what attributes do you want to convey? Define your objectives.

5. Target Audience Who are you trying to reach? Are you reaching them now? If not, what do you feel is missing? For multiple audiences, rank them in terms of importance. Provide demographic information, if relevant. Explain any unusual or unique attributes about your audience.

6. Corporate/ Brand Personality What is your image in the market Place? How do you want to be perceived? Cutting edge? Relaxed and friendly? Trendy and elegant? Inexpensive and approachable? What subliminal messages do you want to convey? Jot down a list of adjectives describing the image you want to project and another describing messages you want to avoid.

7. Budget Until you know what form the solution will take, it's hard to define a budget. However, it usually helps to state a ballpark figure for the total project, so that the designer knows whether you are thinking about a three-panel brochure or a 48-page full-color book. Some companies undertake design projects so infrequently, they have no idea how much things cost. They come in with lavish samples of what they want, only to discover that something comparable would wildly exceed their budget. In fairness to the design process, it is important to provide a budget range, so that the designer can develop concepts with that in mind - or advise you early-on that the ideas you want to execute will cost more than is currently budgeted. Don't try to breakout the budget by line items i.e., design, photography, typesetting, printing, paper, etc.; let the designer do that once the solution is defined.

When it comes to budgeting at this early stage, it's important to build in flexibility, so that you don't miss an opportunity to get the perfect solution, which may happen to cost just a few dollars more.

8. Schedule and Deadline What absolute targets must be met? A product launch at a conference that happens once a year? An SEC filing? A Board of Directors' presentation? If this is a program with many elements, is there a rollout sequence? Does the print advertising have to coincide with the brochure distribution, for instance? State any interim targets that must be met during production, if relevant, and when the project must be completed.

9. Design Medium What medium do you have in mind for the design? A print piece, advertising, packaging, Web site, email blast, social media campaign, poster, exterior signage, video, AR/VR experience - or all of the above? Do you have a particular size in mind e.g., a 24-page self-cover brochure, a direct mail piece that fits a No. 10 envelope? In some cases, the situation will dictate the medium; in others, the best medium may emerge through an audit and analysis of your needs. State your preference but keep an open mind.

10. Technical and Practical Constraints Does the designer have to stay within certain parameters? Is it a point of-purchase display that has to meet specific supermarket guidelines? A brochure that has to be translated into three languages? Packaging that must include recycled materials? If there are inflexible constraints, state them up front. Don't base your parameters simply on the fact that "it's always been done that way," because you may prevent your designer from coming up with a solution that no one has ever considered before.

1 2019 In-House Creative Management Report, published 2019 by InSource and InMotionNow

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Recently, I wrapped up a speaking tour with Canada Post. We hit four big cities—Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Toronto. All in, my colleague and frequent speaking partner, Trish Witkowski of FoldFactory.com, and I spoke to well over 800 creative ...

I started to think about the value of paper and the documents printed on it. In the United States, one of our most valued pieces of paper is the Declaration of Independence. And, just for fun, I thought I’d share a couple of facts about the documen...

Sappi’s connection to Robert was that he was a recipient of two Ideas that Matter grants—one in 2012 and the other in 2014. Working with teams that include Pellegrino Collaborative, students at the University of Notre Dame and the Kgosi Neighborh...

Two companies that have launched publications as an extension of their brand are the online fashion site Net-a-Porter and the travel site Airbnb. Communicating to their audience and building a community of like-minded followers appears to be the goal...

One format that is resurfacing in the fragmented music industry that I find particularly interesting is the FLEXI RECORD. Pressed on thin plastic or coated paper (which is, of course, my preference) FLEXI RECORDS started appearing commercially in the...

While some say a picture is worth a thousand words, sometimes a video may be the shortest story-telling route for your marketing message. A benefit of this new technology is that everyone gets mail while all other communication channels require the r...

As I’m sure you've all heard, the call for entries for the 2015 Ideas that Matter grant program is now open! This is our 15 year anniversary and, over the course of that time, Sappi’s Ideas that Matter program has supported over 500 charitable pr...

The New York Times recently reported that 2013 experienced a 1% increase in mailed catalogs—bringing the total number of catalogs for the year to 11.9 billion. This is still down 60% from the peak in 2007. But, economists and experts are paying clo...

In the U.S., live event attendance is on the rise. From the first half of 2012 to the first half of 2014, concert revenue was up 29%(1); queries on Google for sports tickets increased 32%(2), and Broadway attendance was up 5.5% year over year(3). For...

Wine began selling rare books more than a decade ago. Several years later, he was asked to put together a custom collection for a friend’s beach house in South Carolina. But, more than just building a collection based on interests, themes and topic...

The Pantone Hotel™, located in Brussels, Belgium, was designed by Michel Penneman and Olivier Hannaert. Using an all-white backdrop, the hotel has strategically placed saturated color palettes in each room, and on each floor, to put color at center...

Over this past year, as I’ve incorporated information from different neuroscientific research into my presentations and this blog, I’ve begun to realize that I’m not only a ‘print evangelist’ but a champion of reading. You can learn more ab...

As a public speaker I've always had the platform I need to educate, train and consult with—and for—clients. And yet, over the past years, I've found that it’s equally important to communicate through all of the channels that are available to me...

At year’s end I like to think about the future and typically review JWT: The Future 100. JWTIntelligence, the group that puts out the report annually, is a center for thinking that focuses on identifying shifts in the global zeitgeist. This year’...

I’ve spent a great deal of time this year focusing on direct mail. Direct mail campaigns can display some of the most creative and successful uses of paper and print. And, even more importantly, they are proven to perform better than online activit...

Print has tangible properties that make it part of the culture and the times. Print has shape, weight and texture. A magazine can rest on a coffee table, a book can fit on a shelf and a brochure can be held in your hands. For marketers, paper and pri...

Millward Brown used fMRI brain scans to “see” the different effects of two types of marketing approaches on the recipient’s brain. They researched the impact of physical marketing materials compared to that of online digital assets. The physica...

Evolution “Evolution” is the term that accurately describes both the show and the industry. While many printers report that they are doing well and are busy, it’s definitely a smaller industry. Insiders and outsiders agree that those printers t...

Let me remind you of some successful marriages as the debate over print versus digital works its way to becoming moot. Many of you may know that I often talk about how print and digital can deliver amazing results when they join forces with Augmented...

A dangling modifier here, a typo there, a misspelled word every now and then can mean the difference between work that resonates with clients and work that seems unprofessionally produced. Bad grammar can also get in the way of how well you communica...

I have been obsessed with paper--and books--since childhood. My obsession began in grade school where I worked on paper-craft projects. It was fueled at my father’s ad agency where I fooled around with paper swatch books. And, it peaked even furthe...

- Isaac Newton originally and popularized by Albert Einstein When I began my career—you know, back in the dark ages—people often started their careers in supporting roles. Sometimes that meant getting coffee, arranging schedules and running erran...

In today’s marketing model the two most important components are relevancy and timing. How does one best determine what is relevant to their clients, and, how often should contact be made to keep your brand top of mind without being a pest? The eas...

Recently a colleague asked me about my favorite marketing promotion—which one do I go back to and think about over, and over, again. It’s a really hard call for me. I like aspects of many of our promotions, particularly The Standard series which ...

What if you could find a way to communicate effectively with content contained in a short, concise, well produced format that your clients could consume at their convenience? What if they could get more information should they choose, or send valuabl...

Apart from making connections, I also find that social media allows me to “connect back” with colleagues, friends and acquaintances. How? By personally endorsing their skills on LinkedIn. This raises the question--who's really looking at these en...

265 million people play soccer across the globe. In the US, we have the largest number of youth soccer participants in the world with 20 million young people playing the sport. It’s easy to understand why soccer is such an appealing team sport, esp...

Mass-produced paper fashion was invented by the American Scott Paper Company in 1966 as a marketing stunt. Customers could send in a coupon and $1.25 to receive a dress made of "Dura-Weve", a cellulose material patented in 1958.[1] Dresses made out o...

“The whole world, as we experience it visually, comes to us through the mystic realm of color.” --Hans Hoffman, Artist Photoreceptors—the rods and cones, in our eyes—assist us in seeing the color. The most common color blindness, Red-Green co...

As a humanist, I find this topic fascinating and enjoy occasionally sharing some of my own thoughts about the subject matter. My goal is not to denigrate tablets, smartphones or online communication in any way. There are far too many benefits and adv...

With quality ingredients, side-to-side consistency, fade resistance and an amazing environmental pedigree, I’m proud to say that McCoy is—well—the real McCoy. Sappi McCoy is the real thing, the genuine article. At the HOW Design Live Conference...

In my travels and speaking engagements, it’s great to be able to share knowledge about techniques and tactics, but the best part of my job is when I hear real stories from real people that reflect real experiences. I’m lucky to meet many people w...

One thing that seems to be hard coded for an analog world is sketchbooks and notebooks. I use one and most creatives I know do too. Moleskine® notebooks have proliferated the market in the last five years—and now include traditional notebooks as w...

Over many years the academic and scientific color communities have made extraordinary progress in the technology of color accuracy, profiling, calibration and multi-device color management. Significant advances have been made in ISO standards, guidel...

Not only would this new program help bring attention to the power of design and communication on paper, but it would also reinforce Sappi’s commitment to designers by supporting their choice of causes in their own communities. And, ultimately, the ...

Henceforth, my opinion… Over the past decades I’ve watched art evolve into science in many areas of the printing process. Advanced input and output specifications, as well as guidelines and standards, have refined the workflow process to ensure a...

AIGA has very heady beginnings; started at a New York meeting in 1914 with graphic arts luminaries including lettering cartoonist, F. G. Cooper and prolific type designer, Frederick W. Goudy*. Some of the early guests were printers, of course – fin...

One subject that we discuss with optimism throughout our organization is “The Flight to Quality.” Originally, a term coined in the financial market, its application in the Graphic Arts is the observation that quality makes a difference. Printing ...

I look forward to this being a meeting place for us to get together to talk about all sorts of graphic arts topics. Sometimes design, sometimes print, sometimes marketing, sometimes new technology. There is so much for us to talk about. One of the th...

Recently, I have been spending a lot of time researching the difference between a fad, a trend, and disruptive innovation/technology. I think it is very important, in this day and age of overwhelming technological outpourings, to be able to recognize...

IMAGES

How to Write the Most Compelling Creative Brief (with Examples)
How to write a design brief
How To Write A Brief For A Graphic Designer
50 Useful Design Brief Templates (Free Creative Brief) ᐅ TemplateLab
The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Design Brief
50 Useful Design Brief Templates (Free Creative Brief) ᐅ TemplateLab

VIDEO

14 WRITING ABOUT THE ART OF DESIGN PART TWO 2 EC
14 WRITING ABOUT THE ART OF DESIGN PART ONE 1 EC
Assignment front page design|#short#design#beautifuldesign#design with pen
How to write A design #shorts #writing
Putting Ideas into Writing, Part 1
Dimension Films Mogo (student work) version 2

COMMENTS

9 Steps To Write a Powerful Design Brief in 2023
What should be included in a design brief? · An overview of the business · Project overview and scope · Information about the target audience
How to create a design brief in 7 steps
What to include in your design brief · Overview · Project scope and overview · Design goals and objectives · Target audience · Budget and timeline.
How to Write a Design Brief (with Examples)
A design brief is a document that defines the core details of your upcoming design project, including its goals, scope, and strategy. It needs to define what
How to Write a Design Brief (With Template and Example)
How to write a design brief · 1. Create a header · 2. Include a project overview · 3. Explain the design project goals and objectives · 4. Discuss
How to Write a Design Brief (Template Included!)
By writing a design brief, you're getting the ideas for your project out of your head, and down on paper. This helps drive a better understanding of your
How to Write a Design Brief (With Templates & Examples)
A design brief is a written document that lays the groundwork for a design project with the outlined goals, scope, and approach for the request.
How to write a rock solid design brief (with examples)
The main focus of the design brief should be on the results and outcomes of the design concepts and visual direction. It should also relate that
What is a Design Brief and How to Write One
It can help to create or use a design brief template, form or questionnaire for your client to fill out with all the details you need to know
How to write a design brief that gets you results
How to write a design brief that gets you results · 01. Who is the client and what do they do? · 02. What is the scope of the project? · 03. Who's the audience or
Ten Tips for Writing an Effective Design Brief
Ten Tips for Writing an Effective Design Brief · 1. Corporate Profile Even if your corporate rename is more famous than Lady Gaga, don't assume everyone knows