What is the significance of a design brief

Explain if you are looking to consolidate your existing client-base or appeal to new markets. Detail any demographic figures about your audience that may be useful to the designer. These may include:. Even if you can only provide a ball-park figure, a budget expectation will give the designer a good idea of the type of solution they will realistically be able to provide.

Time scale is also an important consideration - so let your designer know if there is a specific deadline that has to be met. Consult with as many people within your organisation as possible before sending the brief. Showing the design brief to different people may reveal remarkable differences in the way people see your organisation's aims and objectives. Resolving any differences in opinion will save considerable time and expense further down the line.

Whilst you should write in clear, concise way - there is no reason why you cannot use emotive language to emphasise exactly what you are trying to achieve. The answer is quite simple really. No one knows your business better than you. If you spend time outlining the goals and objectives of a project, you will provide the designer with the information they need to create a successful design that will achieve the desired results.

To help establish an understanding between the client and designer, a comprehensive brief is a crucial part of the design process. It essentially serves as a reference tool during the project. Start your brief with a short, but honest introduction to your company. Tell your designer about the products or services you provide and what your niche market is. Including a short company history is also advantageous. Assume the designer knows nothing about your industry, nor anything about your customers and competitors.

Identify your primary, secondary and tertiary audiences. Be specific with any demographic figures as these are useful to a designer. Include age range, gender, household income, occupation, location and any useful keywords. Claiming that your target market is everyone is not effective nor practical.

Be tough with this detail as the more targeted your audience the better the results. Make sure your goals are clear and well outlined. Define your project and what you would like the outcomes to be.

A great design can influence the success of a company but clear objectives must be set. Sitting down to write a design brief will help you set those targets. Even if you can only provide a rough estimate, a budget expectation will give the designer a good idea of the type of solution they will realistically be able to provide.

Withholding this information for fear of being over-charged is a common misconception. If you start with honesty up front, you will most likely receive good service in return. There are multiple avenues a designer can use to fit your brief to your budget.

Printing on a less expensive stock of paper, altering the size of the artwork or producing less collateral than originally planned are all ways which can save you money. Is social networking important to your marketing strategy? Include your current use of social networks and whether you require guidance for incorporating your accounts into you marketing materials. Clearly stipulate what needs to be designed.

Is it a business card, a website or a 12 page brochure? But that information is not enough for a designer to work from, let alone quote on. How many elements do you require? What is the size of the artwork? What colours do you want? Full colour, a pantone colour or a special metallic ink? What stock do you require? Will the artwork be printed on both sides?

How many do you need printed? Does it have a special finish such as embossing or foiling? Do you want your artwork die-cut or folded? For a website, how many pages and what navigation will it have? What special features will it have? These details can seriously affect your budget, so be aware of expecting caviar when you have a fish and chips budget.

Advise your designer if there is a particular deadline, such as a special event. If you leave your project to the last minute, many designers will add a loading to their normal rate as they will have to put a hold on the other jobs already in the system. Investing time on research, understanding the subject and the field are necessary. Studying the users is finally becoming the widely adopted good practice. But getting really inspired by a brief is still something that can be easily overlooked.

The brief is the launchpad where the journey begins. In any case, a good design brief is essential in some many aspects to what will be the work of the design team onwards and should not be overlooked. At Imaginary Cloud , we simplify complex systems, delivering interfaces that users love.

Take this chance to also check our latest work and, if there is any project that you think we can help with, feel free to reach us. We look forward to hearing from you!

A good design brief is a necessary condition for achieving a good design. What often happens On many occasions I have received briefs that were, in fact, not briefs, in the sense that they contained the questions and the answers. Let me explain. Let's take some examples: The rate of conversion is too low on my page. Triggering creativity One of the pillars of creativity is problem-solving.

Let's bring in another example. Incidentally, I've noticed how this inspiration is important for developers as well. Summing-up The brief is the launchpad where the journey begins. Shape Created with Sketch.