It outlines objectives, provides all relevant information for the team and all stakeholders, keeps everyone on the same page, and acts as an anchor during every stage of the creative process. Whether you’re gathering informations for an external team or working on your own teams’ project, being able to craft an effective brief will have a huge effect on your project right from the start.
Over the years we developed a set of questions we ask our clients before we start a project. From this set of questions we built our PROJECT WORKSHEET, that we use whenever we talk about a new project. Learn more about our 5 STEP PRODUCTION PROCESS.
Every project is different so not all questions may apply in every case. We consider this more as a framework or a guide that leads us through the initial conversations with our clients and partners on an upcoming project. Sometimes we give this to our clients in advance, so they can fill in the blanks and discuss some issues with their stakeholders before we even start to talk about the project.
We hope the template is helpful for you. We’d like to hear about how our project worksheet works for you. Let us know, write an email.
You may have emailed, held meetings and had good conversations about the project, and yet they are not your starting point. Include everything a person would need to know if they never heared about the project before. Your creative brief influences your brainstorm, so it must include both small and big picture issues. The more comprehensive the brief, the better-prepared everyone will be.
The most important piece of information is the problem and the end-goal.
It’s about the core challenges you’re trying to solve, it is NOT to explain how to create the solution. The whole creative process will be driven by your primary objectives, so it is critical everyone is clear on what those are.
The creative brief has to point out the most relevant information. Try to reduce the volume and complexity of key information. Use clear hierarchy within your text, provide context only when it’s helpful.
Avoid acronyms, industry buzzwords, jargon or company slang. If a particular term is important, explain it in plain language. Don’t leave room for interpretation and make sure that everyone understands possibly confusing content before you move on.
Get all stakeholder to sign-off on your brief. Avoid having to make changes during production because of misinformation, information gaps, inconsistent messaging, or other issues in the brief. So make sure your brief is water-proof and in line with the decision-makers involved.
It’s easy to get overly excited during the creative process and you could lose focus of your original core objectives. Check back with your creative brief at every stage of the creative process. This will keep everyone on track and excited through all production phases.
