How do I brief a designer? What do they need to know before starting?
The 4 facts that save you revisions.
Quick answer: Four things, even on a single page:
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- Who you sell to and what the piece has to do: a measurable action (calls, quote requests, visits)
- What you've already tried and how it went
- What you have on hand: copy, photos, logo, examples you like and examples you hate
- Budget and deadline, even rough ones
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With this information, a good designer asks you the right questions at the first meeting. The full process: how we work.
A vague brief costs you twice
A brief like "make me an elegant brochure for my company" has two precise consequences. First: the designer fills the gaps with assumptions, and wrong assumptions turn into revisions, which means time and stress. Second: the quote goes up, because a serious professional also prices the risk of working in the dark.
One well-written page saves you more than any negotiation over price. It also shortens delivery times, which depend on the material you provide more than on the design work itself: details in how long design takes.
The four pieces of information, with real examples
| Information | Vague brief | Useful brief |
|---|---|---|
| Who you sell to and what the piece has to do | "It's to get our name out there" | "Auto repair shop owners in the local area. It has to make them call for an on-site visit" |
| What you've already tried | "We've done some advertising" | "A flyer in 2024, 5,000 copies, 3 phone calls. I still have it, I'll send it over" |
| What you have on hand | "You decide" | "Copy that needs work, 20 photos of the facility, logo in vector format. Attaching 2 examples I like and 1 I hate" |
| Budget and deadline | "Give me a price" | "I have around 1,500 euros and I need it for the trade show on March 10" |
Writing the right-hand column takes ten minutes of honesty about your project, and no design skills at all. Note the second example: even a failed attempt is valuable information, because it tells the designer what your market has already ignored.
On budget and deadline, it pays to show your hand
It's the information almost everyone holds back, fearing the quote will swell to match the stated budget. The practical result is the opposite: without a reference figure, the designer doesn't know whether to propose the flyer or the 32-page catalog, and you end up trading proposals that miss the mark. An honest range ("between 1,000 and 2,000 euros") makes it possible to design the right solution for that figure. The same goes for the deadline: if there's a trade show or a launch, say so in the first line.
What you don't need to write
There's no need to specify fonts, colors or layout: those are the decisions you pay a professional for, and locking them in from the start often makes the result worse. If you have strong preferences, put them among the examples you like and hate: they communicate more than any technical instruction. And clarify from the brief onward which files you'll receive at delivery: it gets everyone aligned early, when it costs nothing.
How we handle it
At Keryx Design, the brief is the first formal step of the project: we collect the four pieces of information, ask the questions that are missing and put everything in writing before opening a file. The full process, step by step: how we work. Want to tell us about your project? Contact us.
