The brief is the first design decision
Every project starts with a brief, even when nobody writes one down. If it lives only in someone’s head, the studio fills the gaps with assumptions, and the first round of work becomes an expensive way to discover what the client actually wanted.
A good brief does not need to be long. The best ones we have received fit on a single page. They are clear about the problem, honest about the constraints and generous with context, and they leave the solution open.
What to include
The problem, in one paragraph. Not “we need a new website”, but why: what is not working today and what it costs the business. “Our site brings plenty of enquiries and very few projects” gives a studio far more to work with than a list of pages.
Who it is for. Describe the people you want to reach, what they already know about you and what they need to believe before they buy. Real examples beat personas.
What success looks like. One or two outcomes you can measure, and how you will know six months after launch that the project worked.
Constraints. Budget, deadline, technical requirements, brand elements that cannot change and people who need to approve the work. Constraints are not a limitation for a good studio; they are information.
What you like and why. References are useful, but only with a sentence on what you like about each one. “This site feels calm” tells us more than a link on its own.
What to leave out
Leave out the solution. A brief that specifies the layout, the colour and the animation turns the studio into a production team and wastes the thinking you are paying for. Describe the problem in as much detail as you like, and let the people you hired propose how to solve it.
Leave out the wish list too. Twenty equally important goals mean none of them are. If everything is a priority, ask which three things would make the project a success if nothing else happened.
Treat it as a draft
The brief is the start of a conversation, not a contract. In our first workshop we read it together, challenge it and often rewrite parts of it. That is a good sign: it means the important questions are being asked in week one rather than in week six.
If you are preparing a project and not sure where to start, send us whatever you have. A few honest paragraphs are enough for a first call, and we will help you turn them into a brief that gets better work, from us or anyone else.
