How To Write A Brief. A Brief Introduction.

A brief is a basic outline of your vision. Its not just the work you require but also what you want to achieve from it. This could be a website, branding/rebranding, a new product line or a plethora of other things. It’s there with the aim of getting the right people hired for the job and more importantly, that you are all on the same page.

Over the next several blog posts I will be outlining how to write and construct a brief, with the intention of saving you time, ensuring you can instruct the right people for the project and giving you the best chance of getting results. First things first, what is a brief?

Simply put it’s an overview of the project you would like carried out. Its intention is to help the recipient gain a better understanding of what your business desires from the project. It needs to not only highlight the solutions you need but the initial problems that you have. This will help the agency resolve these issues for you once the work gets underway.

So lets go from the beginning; you’ve started your new business, you’re in need of a visual update or you’re website isn’t quite cutting the mustard: it’s time to go shopping for help. Hold your horses though, if you go and email a few agencies that you want to quote your work you may spend a fair chunk of your day, maybe even week, fielding emails and calls that could have all been avoided in advance. The agencies will want to know more about you, your company, your industry, the project, they may even ask ‘wheres the brief?’ The solution is the brief: a simple document, usually no more than a couple of pages.

The reason the brief is so vital is that it gives the prospect agencies an introduction to your business and can get them excited for the project itself! Its always important to remember that not all designers are au fait with the ins and outs of your ‘globe making’ business, or whatever industry you are in. Give them some context.

And thats it, a brief intro to briefs. Next we will get into what is included in a brief, so keep an eye out.