How to create a design brief in 7 steps
Summary
A design brief is a document that outlines the core details and expectations of a design
project for a brand. A good design brief sets the tone for a successful design project by
outlining the goals, quality, and deliverables. In this article, you’ll learn what a design
brief is, how to create a successful one, and what you should include in your next design
brief.
If you want to set yourself up for success on your next design project, it’s imperative that
you start with a design brief. A design brief creates a structured road map for your project
and helps facilitate better communication for everyone involved.
In this guide, we cover what a design brief is, the benefits of creating one, how to write a
design brief, and the elements you should always include. Plus, check out an example
design brief template to get you started.
What is a design brief?
A design brief is a document that outlines the core details and expectations of a design
project for a brand. This document should be an easy-to-understand plan of how the project
will be executed. An effective design brief aligns the company and designer’s goals so
everyone is satisfied with the final deliverable.
Any company that utilizes design resources can benefit from having designers create a
brief prior to their project—whether those designers are in-house or freelance. For the
purpose of this article, we'll use client and company interchangeably to represent the party
commissioning the design project.
A design brief starts by explaining why a new design is necessary. This includes how the
design will benefit the target audience, how it will move the brand voice forward, and how
it will fit in with the larger competitor landscape. The designer uses this information to
write out the goals and objectives for the upcoming project.
Finally, the brief includes project details, deliverables, budget, timelines, and scope so that
everyone has the same expectations. Design briefs are great for keeping both client and
design teams aligned.
Design brief vs. creative brief
If you’ve never created one before, a design brief might seem a lot like a creative brief.
Overall, a design brief handles more of the preproduction and business side of the project,
while the creative brief tackles the innovative execution.
A well-done design brief give both parties a solid layout for how they’re going to
accomplish their goals. It’s a great guide to look back on if one party ever feels like the
progress is getting off track or a disagreement arises.
Once you’ve done the research associated with a design brief, your team will use a creative
brief to dive deeper into the company and target audience to tailor your designs to their
needs. This second brief is a more in-depth look into how your design will speak to their
customers, what elements you want to include, and the reasoning behind your artistic
decisions.
Why do designers need a design brief?
There are many advantages to having a design brief when starting a new project. It gives
you time to truly understand the nuances of a company and its audience. A design brief
also reassures the client that their opinion is valued and that all parties have the same end
goal.
By using a design brief you can:
- Create a more trusting designer-client relationship.
- Gain insight into the brand and target audience.
- Invite the client to be more involved in the project.
- Align on a reasonable timeline and budget before the project begins.
- Set a standard for the quality and types of deliverables needed.
What to include in your design brief
Design briefs come in many different forms, but there are certain aspects that should be
included each time. Once you have included the basics, the design brief can be customized
depending on the type of project or client.
Start your design brief with context about why you’re making your creative choices based.
The context should also clarify how your creative choices will contribute to the client’s
goals. Finally, your design brief should include all of the necessary information to outline
a project from start to finish.
Overview
Start your design brief by listing out information about the company the project is for.
This starting point helps you gain stakeholders’ trust by demonstrating that you understand
their market, industry, and brand guidelines.
The project or brand overview typically includes details such as the size of their company,
contact information, past projects, or their current design needs. This can be especially
helpful when multiple people are working on the same project. Once the overview is
finalized, everyone will have a quick summary on hand that they can refer back to as
needed.
Questions to ask:
- What are the client’s unique aspects?
- What does the company do?
- What are their brand guidelines and expectations?
- What themes or common motifs are important to their brand?
- What are the client’s primary needs? How can we meet those needs?
Project scope and overview
Once you’ve written out a brand overview, it’s time to give a detailed description of the
design project being executed. This description is a summary of what you’ll be working
on, why this work benefits the client, and everyone’s roles and responsibilities.
This is also an opportunity for you to clarify the project scope, which outlines exactly what
is needed to accomplish a project. The scope of the project should be agreed upon by both
parties to avoid confusion or tension throughout the design process.
Questions to ask:
- What designs will we create?
- What issues are we trying to solve with these new designs?
- What are the client's expectations of this project?
- What is within scope? What is out of scope?
Design goals and objectives
After an overview of the project and company is complete, it’s important to explain the
goals and objectives for a project. This section should focus on the design problem to solve
and the steps your team will take to fix the issue.
In this section, you should also outline the purpose of the project and lay out concrete steps
for how you will reach the goal in mind. This section should give a clear path for how the
project will be executed—make sure to keep it as specific as possible.
Questions to ask:
- What will make this a successful project?
- What steps do we need to take to accomplish our objectives?
- What are our project goals for this design?
- What metrics will we use to measure success?
Target audience
Understanding a client’s customers is critical so you can create designs that speak to the
people they’re trying to target. In order to do this, create a design idea board to clarify and
contextualize your client’s audience. This board is a chance for you to think about the
client’s customers and build a persona with them in mind.
Your client might already have a persona that your designers can use. If they don’t, you
can also create one based on your client’s target audience, demographics, psychological
characteristics, and hobbies. All of this helps to form an image of who your design work
is catering to.
Questions to ask:
- What are your customer’s favorite hobbies?
- What are your persona’s demographics and psychological traits?
- How will your product or service help your target audience?
- What does your target audience want?
- What important characteristics impact your target audience’s behavior (whether
that’s age, sex, region, etc)?
Budget and timeline
One of the most important steps of any good design brief is to write out an agreed
upon project budget and timeline. Many clients that aren’t designers might not realize how
long each stage will take, so it’s smart to have a rough estimate for them to refer back to.
When you and your client make a budget for a project, it’s important to be realistic about
the time it will take to research, plan, create, and make edits as needed. Be sure to leave
enough room in their schedule and budget for potential difficulties or unexpected changes.
Questions to ask:
- How long will this project take from start to finish?
- What is the budget for this project?
- How long should it take to receive feedback?
- How frequently will you and your client update your project timeline tool?
Competitor analysis
Every organization has other competing brands and it’s important to understand the
competition. Once you have a strong understanding of the brand’s competition you can
create new and innovative designs that stand out from the crowd.
Designers should learn from their competition’s past design successes and mistakes to help
dictate the direction of their next great design plan. Having a strong grasp of your client’s
competitors will help make better design decisions in the future.
Questions to ask:
- Who are the company’s competitors?
- What designs have been successful for the competition in the past?
- What makes our brand stand out against competitors?
- Has my client created a competitive analysis I can review?
Project deliverables
All of the information you’ve filled out and the research you’ve done to create a plan for
their design is essential for explaining the project deliverables. This, essentially, is what
the client will receive and what the end product will be.
Project deliverables will vary depending on the size, scope, and budget of the project.
Setting clear standards and writing out the deliverables will help make sure there aren’t
any misunderstandings at the end of the project.
Questions to ask:
- What will the end result look like?
- What are the deliverables for this project?
- What are the major project milestones throughout the process?
