Standard Forms and Contracts - The Graphic Design: Reference and Specification - page 178

How to Do a Creative Brief
•Developalistofquestionsforaclientthatwillprovideyouwiththeinformationyou
need to proceed with the design.
•Asktheclienttoidentifyalistofpeopleintheirorganizationwhoshouldparticipate
in the briefing process.
•Doclientinterviewsession(s).Meettheselectedpeopleoneononeformorecandid
responses. Send clients the questions in advance so that they are better prepared to
respond.
•Takenotesand/orrecordtheinterviews.Havingtwodesignteammembersonhand
works better than doing it alone, because it allows the conversation to keep flowing,
whilestillbeingrecorded.Dorememberthatrecordingsomeonewithouttheirpermis-
sion is inappropriate and illegal.
•Compileandanalyzetheinterviewfindings.Createasummarydocument.Whereis
thereconsensus?Wherearetheoverlapsandtangents?
•Writethecreativebrief.Includetheessentialitemslistedonpages142-143,and
format the document to be easy for both you and the client to use.
•Sendthecreativebrieftotheclientforapproval.Somedesignersdoadesigncriteria
document(seepage146)insteadofsendingtheactualcreativebrief,whichthey
share only with the design team. Whichever the document, send a summary of find-
ings to the client first before any design begins.
•Withclientapproval,distributethecreativebrieftothedesignteam.Somefirms
do this in a kick-off meeting; others just provide a document. Either way, this is the
design team briefing. The creative brief works as the guiding framework and back-
ground document to inform all design development.
•Boththeclientandthedesignteammembersshouldevaluatealldesignsolutions
baseduponthecreativebrief.Learnmoreaboutevaluatingdesignonpages164-
165.