Branding
How to Brief a Designer (So You Actually Get What You Want)
One of the most common reasons design projects go sideways isn’t the designer’s fault. It’s the brief.
A vague brief leads to guesswork. Guesswork leads to revisions. Revisions lead to frustration on both sides, budgets blowing out, and timelines stretching. A clear brief, on the other hand, gives a designer everything they need to get it right, often first time.
Here’s what a good brief looks like.
1. Tell us about your business
This sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how many briefs skip it. A designer needs to understand:
- What your business does
- Who your customers are
- What problem you solve for them
- What makes you different from competitors
Don’t assume we know your industry. Even if we’ve worked with similar businesses before, your version of it is unique, and that’s what we’re trying to capture.
2. Be specific about what you need
“I need some marketing stuff” is not a brief. “I need a flyer for a corporate event on 15 March, A5 single-sided, to be printed by 8 March” is a brief.
For websites, specify:
- How many pages
- What features (contact form, booking system, gallery)
- Whether you have copy and images ready, or need those too
For logos and branding:
- What formats you’ll need (print, digital, embroidery)
- Whether you need brand guidelines
The more specific you are, the more accurate the quote and timeline will be.
3. Share examples of what you like (and don’t like)
This is genuinely one of the most useful things you can do. Find 3–5 examples of design you like (from competitors, from other industries, from anywhere) and tell us specifically what appeals to you about each one.
“I like the clean layout of this one, but the colour palette of that one” is incredibly helpful.
Equally useful: examples of what you don’t like. If there’s a style that feels wrong for your brand, tell us. It rules out a whole direction before any time is spent going there.
4. Tell us about your brand (if it exists)
If you already have a logo, colours, or fonts, share them. Even if we’re updating them, we need to know where things currently sit.
If you have brand guidelines, even a loose version, please send them. If you don’t have any, that might be something worth discussing as part of the project.
5. Be clear about budget and timeline
Two things people are often cagey about in a brief, and both matter.
Budget: You don’t have to name an exact number if you’re not sure, but a range helps enormously. It determines scope, approach, and whether a project is even viable. There’s no point quoting a full brand identity suite if the budget only allows for a logo.
Timeline: When do you actually need this? Work back from that date. If there’s a print deadline, a launch date, an event, tell us upfront. Rush jobs cost more and produce more stress than they should.
6. Nominate one decision maker
The most expensive thing in a design project is inconsistent feedback. When five people are reviewing creative work and all have different opinions, nothing gets resolved and the project stalls.
Nominate one person to consolidate feedback before it comes back to us. They don’t have to make every decision alone, but they should be the person who sends the final, agreed response.
We work with Brisbane small businesses and marketing managers who want to brief well and get great results without the back-and-forth. If you’ve got a project coming up, book a discovery call and we’ll walk through it together.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What should I include in a design brief?
- At minimum: what your business does and who your clients are, exactly what you need designed, examples of styles you like and do not like, your existing brand assets if you have them, your budget range, and your actual deadline. The more specific you are, the more accurate the quote and the better the result.
- Do I need to know exactly what I want before briefing a designer?
- No, but you need to know what problem you are trying to solve. A good designer can help you arrive at the right solution if you are clear about the business goal and the audience. Where briefs go wrong is when the goal itself is unclear, which leads to multiple rounds of revision and cost blowout.
- Why does inconsistent feedback make design projects expensive?
- When multiple people review creative work and give conflicting opinions, nothing gets resolved and the project stalls. Nominate one person to consolidate feedback before it comes back to the designer. They do not need to make every decision alone, but they should send the final agreed response. This alone prevents most of the friction in design projects.
- Should I tell a designer my budget upfront?
- Yes. A budget range determines scope, approach, and whether a project is viable. Without it, a designer has to guess, which can result in proposals that are too expensive or too limited. There is no benefit to withholding this information, and it saves time on both sides.
- How do examples help a design brief?
- They give the designer a shared reference point. Finding three to five examples you like, from competitors, other industries, or anywhere, and explaining specifically what appeals about each one is one of the most useful things you can include. Equally useful are examples of what you do not want, ruling out a direction before any time is spent going there.
