What should a design agency brief accomplish?
A design brief should give the agency enough context to make decisions without guessing. It connects a business need to a defined set of design outputs, with clear expectations for delivery and approval.
The brief is not a set of instructions for arranging every element. Your job is to explain the problem, requirements and constraints. The agency’s job is to recommend a visual solution that fits them.
Keep the main document easy to scan. Link to detailed specifications, research and existing assets rather than burying the essential decisions in attachments.
How do you explain the problem and objective?
Start with why the project exists. Are customers misunderstanding an offer? Does a sales presentation fail to explain the product? Does packaging need to work across a growing range?
Then state what the design needs to help accomplish. Separate the business objective from the creative output.
- —Business objective: Help prospective buyers understand a new service.
- —Communication objective: Make the service, its value and the next step clear.
- —Design output: A presentation and supporting campaign assets.
Avoid objectives such as “make it pop” or “look more premium” without explanation. Describe what those words mean for your audience. For example, “Use a restrained layout that gives technical specifications more prominence than decorative imagery.”
What audience and message information should you include?
Describe the people who will encounter the design and the situation in which they will see it. Include relevant needs, existing knowledge, objections and viewing conditions.
A presentation used during a sales conversation has different requirements from signage read at a distance. A mobile social asset has different space constraints from a printed brochure.
Specify the communication hierarchy:
- —Primary message: The one thing the audience should remember.
- —Supporting information: The evidence or details that make the message useful.
- —Desired action: What someone should do next.
- —Mandatory content: Disclaimers, terms, product information or other required text.
Identify whether copy is approved, provisional or still needed. Changing the message after layout approval can affect both scope and schedule.
How specific should your deliverables list be?
List each required output separately. “Social graphics” or “packaging design” is not enough to define the work.
For each deliverable, provide:
- —Quantity and number of distinct concepts or variations required.
- —Channel, placement and intended use.
- —Dimensions, orientation and technical specifications.
- —Required languages or regional versions.
- —Final file formats and any editable-file requirements.
- —Content supplied by your team and content still to be created.
For print, packaging and signage, share supplier specifications where available. These may include dielines, bleed, safe areas, materials and installation constraints. If specifications are missing, identify who will obtain and approve them.
For digital design, clarify whether the request covers visual assets, interface layouts, implementation or a combination. Do not assume development is included in a design scope.
Which brand assets and references should you share?
Provide current logo files, brand guidelines, approved fonts, imagery and relevant existing work. Identify which materials remain authoritative and which are being replaced.
References are most useful when they include an explanation. Instead of asking the agency to copy an example, identify the characteristic that matters: typography, information hierarchy, illustration style or use of space.
Share dislikes too, but connect them to a reason. “Avoid dense layouts because readers need to find product differences quickly” is more actionable than “We dislike busy design.”
Flag any licensing restrictions on supplied photography, fonts or illustrations. Make clear who is responsible for securing permission to use them.
How should you set budget, timing and approvals?
State the available budget or working range. It helps the agency propose a scope that fits, rather than develop a plan based on assumptions. Clarify whether production, printing, licensed assets or other external costs must fit within that budget.
Give the actual delivery deadline and explain what drives it. Distinguish between the date you need final files and the date a campaign launches or printed materials arrive.
Agree on checkpoints for:
- —Delivery of copy, assets and technical specifications.
- —Review of initial creative directions.
- —Consolidated feedback and revisions.
- —Final approval and file handoff.
Name one person to consolidate stakeholder feedback and identify the final decision-maker. Ask the agency to confirm revision allowances, exclusions and how additional requests will be handled.
What does a practical design brief template look like?
Use this outline as your starting document:
- —Project: What are we creating, and why now?
- —Problem: What needs to change or become clearer?
- —Audience: Who is this for, and where will they see it?
- —Objective: What should they understand or do?
- —Message: What is the primary point and supporting content?
- —Deliverables: What quantities, sizes, versions and formats are required?
- —Brand inputs: Which guidelines, assets and references apply?
- —Constraints: What technical, legal or production rules must be followed?
- —Budget and timing: What resources and deadlines are available?
- —Responsibilities: Who supplies content, reviews work and approves delivery?
- —Success criteria: How will we judge whether the work meets the brief?
What should happen before design starts?
Review the brief with the agency. Resolve conflicting priorities, mark outstanding decisions and confirm the agreed scope in writing. Judge concepts against the objective and audience needs, not only personal taste.
Reezalt handles graphic design across campaign artwork, social assets, print, packaging, presentations, signage and digital design. Based in Beverly Hills, CA, it works with clients in all 50 states. The same in-house team produces the work, with no outsourcing, project by project or on a monthly retainer.