How to write a successful creative brief

We’ve put together these tips for our clients and partners, to ensure that our processes run smoothly and that we deliver the best possible results.

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Use Monday

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Each conversation belongs to a particular channel. When following up on projects, Monday is the most appropriate one. It allows us to create tasks, assign deadlines, and leave comments. Sticking to Monday will help us have all the content at hand in just one place, and easily check on the status of the project.

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Gather your team’s ideas first

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True, the brief is only written by one person in your team, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask around. In our experience, it’s convenient to gather up thoughts from people in different roles in your organisation, whose input will provide more specifications and insight.

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List all deliverables

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Be specific about what you expect to receive. If you can, include size, format, variations, resolution, and any other relevant details for producing the right assets.

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Tell us how you want to sound, look and feel

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Do you have a colour palette in mind? A specific tone of voice? A concept? How do you want your audience to feel? Describe it thoroughly, we want to know as much as possible.

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Include references

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You’ve probably found some inspiration that looks like what you’re going for, or even something you don’t like and want to stay away from. When preparing a brief, make sure to include references and let us know why you love or reject them. It will help us rapidly visualise the style you want to achieve.

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Create a sketch

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If you already have an idea in mind, why not just sketch it? We don’t need anything fancy, maybe just a Murally or Google Slides doodle, and you’ll help us get a good grasp of what you have in mind. An image is worth a thousand words.

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Attach all the info

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No one knows your products and services more than you do. Please share with us the information that will be included in our creative assets. If it’s a design project, make sure to send the final copy for us to apply.

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Set a deadline

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It’s not a brief until we see the deadline. A deadline brings your idea from the platonic world into the real world. A deadline triggers action. Like Morten Brøgger, Wired’s CEO says: “A deadline weeds out the extraneous and the ordinary. It prevents you from trying to make it perfect, so you have to make it different. Different is better.”

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Taking the time to craft your creative brief will help us align to your objectives, and save you even more time. Here’s an article from Medium that also inspired us big time.

A solid, thorough brief is the kickstarter of an effective creative process that delivers the results your business needs.