5 Steps to Writing a Perfect Brand Design Brief

How do I approach a creative agency for the first time? Will they be able to manage my budget and provide creative services? What if the project outcome is not what I expected?

Starting a new relationship with a creative agency can feel a bit daunting, but fear not. It begins by establishing open lines of communication.

You approach a creative agency initially by first making contact, either through their website, email, or by phone. Then, you’ll explain what you need — the creative project or service you’re looking for.

The agency will listen to your needs, understand your budget, and provide a proposal detailing how they can assist you in realizing your creative vision within your set financial boundaries.

Transparency is key here; make sure to discuss your budget openly to allow the agency to tailor their services accordingly. If the outcome of the project doesn’t align with your initial expectations, that’s okay. This is a common fear when approaching a creative project.

In these situations, it’s crucial to provide clear feedback and trust the agency’s experience and expertise. They should be able to revise and tweak the output to better meet your expectations.

Remember, the success of the project relies heavily on good communication, clear expectations, and a shared understanding between you and the agency.

Your Situation

When you’re on the hunt for a creative agency to embody your brand, clarity is crucial. A great way to provide this is through a detailed design brief.

Think of a design brief as a roadmap that guides the designers to understand who you are as a brand, your aspirations, and the end goals you’re aiming for. It’s essentially a blueprint that aids them in creating a visual identity that genuinely reflects your brand.

This brief helps you to streamline your thoughts and assists the creative agency to translate your ideas into a tangible project.

Over the past decade, we’ve identified a few crucial questions you should answer before reaching out to an agency. These questions form the bedrock of your design brief, clarifying your project’s aim, your target audience, and the required outcomes.

Addressing these aspects will help you and the agency to kick-start the project on the right foot, saving time and enhancing the efficiency of the whole process.

Step 1: Tell us about you

Although design agencies specialise in creating visual entities of your ideas, no agency can understand the intricacies of your business, projects, and clientele like you.

We rely upon the information your team can provide us to find the most accurate representations of your brand’s voice – which further emphasizes the need to prep your ideas and project expectations before hiring professional services.

Designers would like to know more about you! Send them some insight into who you are, what your business is, and who they could be working with.

If you’re seeking advice on crafting a compelling brand narrative about your background, business inception, light bulb moment, and what sets you apart from the competition, consider the following approach:

  • Begin by providing a concise yet engaging overview of your background. Highlight key experiences, expertise, and passions that have shaped your journey. Emphasize any relevant accomplishments or milestones that showcase your credibility and expertise in your industry.
  • Describe the genesis of your business, focusing on the driving factors behind its inception. Share the story of how your team came together and identified an opportunity in the market. Be authentic and passionate in conveying your motivations, as this will resonate with designers and create a sense of purpose.
  • Introduce the pivotal light bulb moment that transformed your business. Share the specific realization or epiphany that propelled you forward and set you on a unique trajectory. Explain how this moment of inspiration shaped your vision and influenced the direction of your company.
  • Clearly articulate the aspects that distinguish your business from the competition. Identify your unique selling propositions, such as innovative approaches, exceptional quality, or a customer-centric focus. Showcase what sets you apart and why clients should choose you over other options available in the market.
  • Emphasize the importance of company history and integrity in shaping the work of designers. Communicate how your background and journey have instilled core values and a strong sense of integrity within your team. Highlight how these values reflect in the work they will undertake and the impact it will have on the final outcome.

By following these guidelines, you can effectively convey your company’s history and integrity, providing designers with a comprehensive understanding that will inform and inspire their work.

Remember to present your story with authenticity, passion, and a clear vision of what makes your business truly exceptional.

Step 2: What are we creating?

Your next point of call is to describe in detail what services you would like completed and what deliverables are to be produced by the creative agency.

Tell us what you are hoping to get out of the project – more brand awareness? Perhaps you are establishing a new company? Are you trying to increase sales? List the specific goals you would like to meet.

Project Overview

In this part of the process, it’s all about stating your objectives clearly and precisely. This means detailing what you aim to accomplish with this project and your reasons behind it.

Are you striving to boost your brand visibility? Or maybe you’re launching a brand-new enterprise and need a unique identity? Or are you looking to ramp up your sales figures?

Whatever your goals are, this is the place to share them. The trick here is to be as specific as possible.

For example, if your goal is to increase brand awareness, specify by how much or in what particular demographic. If you’re launching a new company, detail what kind of image you want to project.

And if your goal is to increase sales, mention what products or services you’re targeting, and what kind of increase you’re aiming for.

By outlining your goals in this way, you’ll give the creative agency a clear target to aim for, making it much easier for them to deliver results that meet your expectations.

Target Audience

When writing a brand design brief, it is essential to thoroughly consider who the design is geared toward. The more specific the demographic, the better. To help determine who the target market is, one should create a ‘customer persona’.

This helps to provide an in-depth look into who your ideal customer is as well as their needs and wants.

Services

What do you need the designers to do for you? Do you need a brand strategy or positioning strategy? Do you need a designer to create a logo design, brand identity or do you need an entire website developed?

If you’re not yet certain what you need, write down what you think you’ll need. Your design team can help you sort through which services will be necessary to achieve your project outcomes and guidance on why some services are not recommended.

Deliverables

A deliverable is a physical outcome of our time together. They are a tangible asset that your business can use going forward such as a business card design formatted for future printing.

Please list what tangible products you would like to receive at the end of your design project. i.e Logo package, Styleguide, Social media profiles..etc

Step 3: What are you expecting to achieve?

In this step, it’s time to start imagining the final form of your project.

How do you envision the end product looking? Here, you get to articulate your creative aspirations for the project.

You might have a particular color palette, style, or theme in mind for your brand or design. Whether it’s sleek and modern, warm and rustic, or something unique to your brand, the key is to be specific and illustrative.

You might consider including reference images or sketches to visually convey your thoughts. If you’re uncertain, don’t worry — you don’t have to have every detail mapped out.

Sharing your initial thoughts and preferences with the agency will allow them to further guide you and shape the creative direction of the project.

It’s all about collaboration — your ideas combined with the agency’s expertise will be the catalyst for a stunning and effective end result.

Brand Personality

Visualize your brand as a person with a distinct personality. Is it fun, colorful, and loud, or quiet and minimalistic? This imaginative exercise helps designers define the overall aesthetic of your design.

If your brand is vibrant and energetic, incorporate lively colors, playful typography, and eye-catching visuals. Capture the attention of your audience with a design that exudes joy and enthusiasm.

On the other hand, if your brand leans towards simplicity and elegance, focus on a clean color palette, whitespace, and minimal ornamentation. Emphasize clarity and precision to convey a sense of refinement.

By envisioning your brand as a person, designers can align the design aesthetic with its personality, creating a visually cohesive representation that resonates with your target audience.

Competition

Nominate 3 brands that are similar to yours for us to review. Give us a brief explanation of their product/services, industry position, and how you are different from them.

This information will allow us to conduct a comprehensive analysis and provide valuable insights.

Likes and Dislikes

When nominating brands with appealing visual identities, consider those that effectively communicate their values and capture your attention through elements like color schemes, typography, imagery, and overall design approach.

These examples will give designers a clear idea of the aesthetics that appeal to you. On the other hand, including brands whose visual identities don’t resonate with you can help designers understand what elements to avoid or styles you prefer not to incorporate.

By providing this range of examples, designers will gain a deeper understanding of your visual preferences, enabling them to craft a design that aligns with your aesthetic sensibilities while remaining true to your brand’s identity and goals.

Resources

Help your designers with project research.

Where do you find information about your industry? What publications or blogs do you read and what sort of research do your clients do when it comes to making a purchase decision? Do you read online reviews? Do you follow trusted Instagram influencers?

Give us a snapshot of your product or service industry and where we can gain further insight.

Step 4: How will your design materials be used?

Are you planning launch events? Will you need accompanying social media? Web copy developed using Google Adwords? Printed handouts? Or help to organise a media kit?

What are your plans for promoting your business in the future? Will you be publishing a weekly newsletter? Blogging? Organising promotional events?

If you don’t have the answers to these questions just yet, feel free to ask your potential agency for suggestions that will support your brand strategy.

Step 5: When, Where, and How much?

When does your project need to be completed and what is your budget? Knowing when you need your deliverables and how much you are willing (and able) to spend will save you headaches (and frustrations!) in the future.

Project Timeline

Do you have a very specific deadline by which your project needs to be completed? Or perhaps you have a little more flexibility, but would like to launch your social media campaign in line with a new product reveal?

Outlining key project dates in your brief will help the designer determine if the outcomes are achievable and come up with a mutually suitable deadline if not.

Project Budget

One of the most important considerations when working with an agency is to give your designer a project budget.

Knowing budget limitations can help a designer tailor what services will best suit the project and offer specific design solutions to ensure the client will achieve their expected goals with fewer, and more cost-effective, recommendations.

If you’re considering approaching a design agency for the first time, you may be uncertain as to the cost of creative services.

The right agency will be able to provide you service costs and project quotes, however, knowing how much your company can comfortably spend on design before approaching any agency will ensure your business stays on track financially while pursuing creative brand solutions.

Ready to brief a designer?

We’re delighted you’ve taken the time to read this article, and we hope it’s given you some valuable insights into preparing a solid design brief.

If you’re eager to take the next step, we have a Brand design brief template available for download to help streamline your thoughts and prepare for your creative journey.

And if you’re ready to turn your vision into reality, why not schedule a discovery call with us at Courtney Kim Studio? Our team is excited to learn more about your project, answer any questions, and start planning a creative strategy tailored specifically for you.

 We can’t wait to join you on this exciting journey of branding and design