Standard Forms and Contracts - The Graphic Design: Reference and Specification - page 181

Managing to a Creative Brief
A creative brief is used not only at the start of a project,
but throughout the entire design process. It is the one
constant element that has been agreed upon and is objec-
tive enough to act as a guideline. Clients primarily use it to
getorganized,andtodevelopconsensuswithintheirown
enterprises. They then use it to determine if the design
actuallysolvestheproblemitwasintendedto.Designers
use creative briefs to fact-find and understand their client,
building knowledge about both perception and reality of the
problemathand.Designersoftenfindoutthatwhattheir
client thinks is the problem is not the problem at all. These
are the things that become revealed in the briefing.

W h at ' s I n c l u d e d I n a
d e s I g n c r I t e r I a

Overview:
• Who they are [the client?
the audience?]

• What the problem is
(they say)

• What the problem is
(really)

Research Summary:
• What are they doing?

Once the creative brief is agreed upon by both the designer
and client, it is a useful tool for getting all members of the
design team on board and ready to work on the project. The
designers have relevant grounding to inform their thinking,
the copywriter has messaging information, the production
and project managers have milestones and due dates, and
the account executive has met and bonded with all client
stakeholders. Everyone has what they need to work, no mat-
ter what their responsibility is.

• What are others doing?

Approach:
• What we are recommend-
ing be done

• Design overview (brief
statement about what
needs to be done)

Client Sign Off:
• Approval to proceed with
design. This is a critical
step, if ever needed later
as evidence of client
approval in the case of
things turning sour in a
project.

Creative Briefs vs. Design Criteria
Sometimes, designers take the extra step of translating a
creative brief provided by their clients into a design criteria.
If a creative brief is a tool that provides a framework and
roadmap for a design project, the design criteria is the sum-
mary of the approach and a preplan for the creative. The
design criteria describes what the designer will do to solve
the problem—i.e., the creative strategy.

Taking the time to develop design criteria is very important if
the client is contradictory or indecisive. It gives the design-
ers another opportunity to clarify details before they begin
creative work by team members who tend to be the most
highly skilled and most expensive in terms of hourly rate.
It creates a sureness that designer and client are in agree-
ment.