A well-prepared design briefing contains all relevant information for designers and is relevant for the success of a marketing project. If you want to impress your clients with your results, stay within budget and also meet the deadlines, you will not get around a design briefing.
If you like to drive your car at night without lights because you always get to your destination either way, then you can stop reading right now. However, you shouldn't complain if you sometimes have a bumpy ride in the marketing jungle and actually reach your destination very slowly most of the time. Working without a clearly defined design briefing is tantamount to this.
What is a briefing?
This is a short informative introduction to a new project that takes place between the client and the graphic designer. Since it is basically the first step at the beginning of a cooperation, we creatives in particular attach great importance to this briefing - after all, the briefing is the basis for a successful design and satisfied clients.
Why is a good design brief so important?
For a creative briefing, it is sufficient to know the colours, fonts and logo of the corporate identity, as well as the information about what kind of design it is supposed to be (flyer, website, Social media posting, etc.). However, to keep the success course of a design steep and high, a design briefing with structured information is necessary for easier communication.
A good briefing gives designers a basic understanding of the client's expectations, the campaign's objectives and the brand message. Creatives also get to know the target group of the project and the competitors.
Many marketing measures of complex projects require teamwork. Thus, it is equally important to carry out a proper onboarding of designers in order to ensure the success of a project's strategy. Brand within a campaign.
Of course, the design brief also has an influence on the marketing budget. The better designers know the client's ideas, the more likely it is to stay within the budget and not waste time with unnecessary correction loops, a lot of back and forth in communication and aha-moments too late.
Who should actually create the design brief?
This task is usually taken on by the marketing team. This team writes a detailed design briefing for the creative team of an agency or for independent graphic designers. In addition, a marketeer should also be available at this point for a personal, brief informational discussion in order to clarify misleading introductions or, in the best case, to prevent confusion and missteps in the first place.
What does a perfect design brief look like?
For us graphic designers at B2IMPACT, this "briefing" (as it is called in military jargon) consists of three major parts.
1. general information about the clients
- Presentation of the company in general
- Website and social media links
- Introduction to the most important aspects of the brand or product
- USP (unique selling proposition): How is it differentiated from competitors?
- Contact details of contact persons (main person in charge plus deputy)
3. background knowledge about the project
- Aim of the project: What should be achieved with the help of the design team?
- Scope of the project: Which services (advertising materials) are to be provided by designers - logo design, web design, print design etc.?
- Target group: Who is the campaign aimed at?
- Timeline (individual milestones for drafts, correction loops and deadlines)
- budget frame
- Introduce cooperation partners: If they are relevant to the design process
- Define release processes: How and where does the handover take place plus who gives the final OK?
- Basic tone of the project: What is the atmosphere in which the project should operate (daring, young, scientific, tech-savvy, down-to-earth ...)?
3. design details
- Transmission of assets: House font, corporate design manual, colour palette, texts, photos and - if available - archive material from previous projects.
- Present the desired format in precise figures
- Should colours of the competition be avoided or does the board have a favourite colour or colours that are totally despised?
- Visual impression of the project: classy, minimalist, bold, playful or colourful ... A mood board on Pinterest excellent!
- Design templates from the Brand Portal for orientation
- Negative examples: The design should definitely not look like this
"Lichtfahrer:innen" are now presented here at the end of the text with the possibility of the Downloads of a briefing template rewarded. Have a good trip!
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