The way a designer tackles a brief greatly depends on the amount and significance of the information supplied by the client in relation to the brand's personality, values and aesthetic.
Know your brand personality, not just your products or services
Before you brief a new designer, they need to know as much about your brand as possible - it helps hugely to have a clear idea of your brand personality as this equips the designer with all they need to know in terms of the type of brand you are, how you like to communicate and what you stand for. These valuable insights greatly assist the designer in grasping your brand and its purpose, meaning their designs are much more likely to hit the mark first time.
Have a clear direction when briefing a designer
Sometimes business owners get excited about a new campaign or project and rush to brief a designer prematurely. Half baked ideas can result in expensive design concepts that fail to fully capture the essence of the original vision, often requiring further refinement. Many of my clients have discovered the value of creating mind maps to streamline their ideas, focusing on the most substantial concepts and ensuring that their messaging and tone are perfected before providing me with a brief for design interpretation.
Explain the motivation behind your project
It is crucial for the designer to grasp the purpose of your campaign, rebrand, or design request in order to skilfully develop solutions that incorporate any important factors driving the concept's creation. This often involves using design and psychology techniques to enhance and strengthen the brand's core message.
Give examples of your expectations
Offering a designer a reference point for your expectations is really beneficial. You can achieve this by creating a mood board, sending an email with screenshots, or verbally sharing examples that you find appealing or wish to emulate for your project. You can also offer examples that do not resonate with your brand to help the designer grasp which concept styles to steer clear of.
Ensure that the examples you provide are relevant to your brand and align with the brand personality, it will confuse the brief if examples are provided that represent a brand with opposing traits to your own.
Provide any brand rules, guidelines or necessary information regarding the visual identity for the designer to follow
Together with the creative brief, make sure to supply your designer with all the assets related to the visual identity required to finalise the project. This typically encompasses logos, icons, colours, fonts, and images you want to incorporate, along with a brand guide detailing their usage.
Provide approved, edited and copy-read content to avoid costly amends later
Having a design created with incorrect, incomplete or unapproved content can result in significant additional expenses. The quantity of copy will influence the design style created by the designer; adding more copy can disrupt the design, diminishing its effectiveness and aesthetic appeal. Supplying the accurate content before starting the design process can prevent the necessity for redesigning or reformatting in the future, ultimately saving time and money for you and your project.
Discuss upfront if budget is available for stock imagery, bespoke illustrations and/or image editing time
Should you lack sufficient imagery for your project, you may need to use stock imagery or the designer may need to create an image or illustration for you that works with your concept. It's important to discuss early on if this is something that may be required to avoid unexpected costs later.
If you have specific imagery you wish to use, but it's not in a compatible format with the design, extensive image editing may be necessary. For instance, converting a portrait image to a landscape format can be a challenge and is not always a simple crop. While some images can be extended using Photoshop, it is a time-consuming process, and the designer should be informed of such assets before providing a quote.
If you would like to discover more about the magic of branding and how it can shape your user experience or to work with me direct on your brand projects, please get in touch.
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