“We need a fresh, modern look.” It is a familiar opening line in a design brief, and a difficult one to act on. Two people can agree with every word and picture completely different outcomes.
A useful brief makes the situation clear enough for a designer to exercise judgement. You can be precise about what matters while leaving the creative answer open.
Explain what has changed
Why is the project happening now? Perhaps your organisation is reaching a new audience. A report has grown beyond its original format. A website no longer reflects how people access your services.
Describe that change in ordinary language. If something is failing, show an example. “People keep sending applications to the general inbox because they cannot find the form” is more useful than “The website needs to be more intuitive.”
Share the parts that already work, too. A redesign should not erase useful recognition or familiar routes without a reason.
Put a person and a decision at the centre
“The general public” is rarely a useful primary audience. Which people need this particular piece of communication, and what do they need to understand or do?
A funding partner reviewing results needs different detail from someone checking whether they qualify for a service. A report may serve both, but the design team needs to know which reading journeys deserve priority.
Describe the circumstances as well as the audience. Will they be reading on a phone, in a meeting, on a printed handout or through a link passed on by a colleague? Those details affect format, hierarchy and length.
Make the constraints visible
Include the deadline and explain what fixes it in place. A board meeting, print delivery or public launch creates a different planning problem from an internal target date.
State the available budget or a realistic range. List required languages, formats, brand rules and approval stages. Identify any funder acknowledgements or mandatory content before design begins.
Be honest about the material. A report with approved copy is different from one with six contributors still writing. If the project includes editing, data visualisation or image sourcing, give those tasks a place in the scope and schedule.
Use references to explain a judgement
A folder of websites and report covers can help, provided you explain what you see in them. Is it the clarity of a chart, the confidence of the typography or the way a long page keeps its reader oriented?
Separate those qualities from the surface appearance. You may admire a website’s pace without wanting its colours or animation.
Share examples you dislike with the same care. “This feels too corporate because the language is distant and the imagery could belong to any organisation” gives a design partner something to work with.
Agree on who decides
Name the person who will bring feedback together and the people who must approve the result. Ask reviewers to respond to the project’s objectives, rather than sending isolated preferences.
Useful feedback identifies a problem: “The eligibility criteria are easy to miss.” It can also explain a concern: “This image makes the programme look limited to one age group.” A designer can respond to both with alternatives you may not have considered.
Finish the brief with a plain description of success. What should a reader understand more clearly? What task should become easier? What must the organisation be able to maintain after handover?
You do not need a perfect document to begin a conversation with us. Bring the problem, the context and the questions you have not resolved. There is valuable design work in deciding what the project needs to be.