How To Brief A Creative Studio
Most creative projects that go wrong went wrong in the brief. Here are the nine things a good one contains, and the template we wish every client sent us.
Most creative projects that go badly did not go badly in the design. They went badly in the brief, two weeks earlier, in a document that did not say who the work was for or what it needed to change.
A good brief is not long. Ours fits on one page. It just has to answer nine things, and three of those decide whether the project runs late.
The Nine Things
What is this creative for?
One sentence, and not "brand awareness". Something a person can act on: buy the new flavour, book a demo, come to the store opening, sign up before the price goes up.
Who sees it, and where?
Somebody scrolling Instagram with their thumb is a completely different design problem from a customer on your product page who came looking. Say which, and say what they already know about you.
What must it say?
One message per creative, three across a campaign at most. If you have eleven, you have a catalogue or a landing page, not an ad.
What must it not say?
The claims legal will not clear, the competitor you do not name, the discount that ends on Friday. Finding these in round three is where budgets die.
Where does it run, and in what sizes?
Every placement, every aspect ratio, every language. This is the single most expensive thing to add later and the cheapest to include now.
Who approves it?
Name them. Not the team, the people. Then confirm they are available in the approval week.
What is the date, and what is it tied to?
A launch, a sale, a festival, a quarter end. A date with a reason behind it gets protected. A date without one slips.
What is the budget?
A range is fine. Withholding it does not get you a better price, it gets you a proposal for the wrong scope, and then a week of rework.
What do you already have?
Brand guidelines, fonts, product photos, past ads that worked and ones that did not. Reusable assets change a quote more than most people expect.
The Template
Copy this into a document and fill in the right-hand side. It is deliberately short. A brief nobody finishes writing is worse than a brief with gaps in it.
| Field | What to write |
|---|---|
| Project | One line. What is this. |
| Objective | The one thing a viewer should do or believe afterwards. |
| Audience | Who, and in what context they will see it. |
| Key message | One per creative, three per campaign at most. |
| Do not say | Claims, names, offers that are off limits. |
| Deliverables | Every size, every format, every language. |
| Placements | Where each deliverable runs. |
| Approvers | Named people, plus their availability. |
| Deadline | The date, and what it is tied to. |
| Budget | A range is fine. |
| Existing assets | Guidelines, fonts, product photos, past ads. |
| References | Two or three examples, with one line on what you like about each. |
What To Leave Out Of A Brief
Briefs get worse as they get longer, and the things that make them longer are usually the same three.
- The full company background. A studio can read your website. Two paragraphs of history at the top pushes the objective to page two, and the objective is the only part that changes the work.
- Pixel-by-pixel direction. If you have already decided the layout, you are buying artwork rather than design, and you should say so and price it that way. Otherwise, describe the outcome and let the people you hired solve it.
- Every internal opinion, unresolved. A brief that says the team is split between two directions hands the argument to the studio, who cannot settle it. Settle it first, even badly. A decided brief that is slightly wrong beats an undecided one every time.
On References
Send two or three, not fifteen. And for each one, write a line about what specifically you like: the colour, the type, the way the product sits in the frame, the fact that it says one thing and stops.
A reference with no note attached is close to useless, because the studio has to guess which of the fifty decisions in that design you were pointing at. A reference with one line attached is the most efficient sentence in the whole brief.
Send us a brief that answers those nine things and you will get a fixed scope and a fixed timeline back, not a range and a discovery call.
Send Us A BriefWhat A Studio Should Send Back
A proposal that restates your objective in its own words, so you can tell whether it landed. A scope with the concept count, the deliverable count and the revision rounds stated. A timeline with your approval dates on it, not just theirs. And a number that includes every size and the source files.
If the proposal does not restate the objective, the studio has not understood the brief and the work will be about the product rather than about the problem. That is worth catching before anyone designs anything. Our pricing breakdown covers what should be inside the number.
Common Questions
- How long should a creative brief be?
- One page. Nine fields answered plainly beats five pages of background nobody reads.
- Should I include the budget in the brief?
- Yes, as a range. Withholding it does not lower the price, it produces a proposal for the wrong scope.
- How many references should I send?
- Two or three, each with one line explaining what you like about it. Fifteen unannotated links tell a studio almost nothing.