There’s a particular kind of frustration that anyone who has commissioned design work will recognise. You had a clear picture in your head. The designer worked hard. And yet what came back wasn’t quite what you imagined — and neither of you are entirely sure why.
Nine times out of ten, the culprit isn’t the designer’s ability. It’s the brief. Or more accurately, the lack of one.
A good brief is the single most valuable thing you can give a designer before a project begins. It saves time, reduces revisions, protects your budget, and dramatically increases the chances of getting something you’re genuinely delighted with first time around. Here’s how to put one together.
Start With the Why, Not the What
Most people begin a brief by describing what they want — a folded leaflet, an A5 flyer, a set of business cards. That’s useful, but it’s not where a brief should start.
Begin with why. What is this piece of print trying to achieve? Are you launching a new service? Attracting footfall to an event? Impressing potential clients at a meeting? Retaining existing customers?
A designer who understands the goal can make creative decisions in service of that goal. One who only knows the format is working with one hand tied behind their back.
Be Clear About Your Audience
Who is going to be reading or receiving this? Their age, profession, and relationship to your business all influence the right tone, style, and visual approach enormously.
A leaflet aimed at young families visiting a soft play centre should look and feel completely different from a brochure targeting senior procurement managers at a corporate firm — even if both are the same format and size. Tell your designer who they’re designing for, and they’ll make far better decisions about typography, imagery, and layout.
Share Everything You Have
Logo files, brand guidelines, existing print materials, colours you use, fonts you like, examples of competitors’ work, things you’ve seen elsewhere that you admire — share all of it. More information is always better than less.
If you have brand guidelines, send them. If you don’t, describe your brand in a few honest words. Are you traditional or modern? Friendly or formal? Bold and energetic, or calm and reassuring? These descriptions give a designer an instinctive feel for the territory before they’ve opened a single application.
Be Specific About the Practical Details
This is where clarity really counts. Specify the finished size, the quantity you need printed, whether it folds and how, whether it’s single or double-sided, and any deadline that isn’t flexible. If you know you want a particular finish — gloss laminate, uncoated stock, soft touch — say so. If you’re not sure, say that too, and ask for recommendations.
Include any text or content that must appear — contact details, legal small print, social handles, website addresses. It’s surprisingly easy to forget these in the excitement of the creative conversation, and adding them in at proof stage can disrupt a layout that was working beautifully.
Tell Them What You Don’t Want
This is an underused but enormously useful part of any brief. If there are colours you hate, styles that feel wrong for your brand, or approaches a previous designer took that missed the mark, say so upfront. It’s not negative — it’s genuinely helpful. Knowing what’s off the table is just as valuable as knowing what’s on it.
Leave Room for Expertise
Finally — and this is important — brief thoroughly and then trust the process. A good designer will take everything you’ve given them and bring something to it that you wouldn’t have arrived at alone. That’s exactly what you’re paying for.
At Podds Print in Whyteleafe, our team is always happy to talk through your project before a single design decision is made. A quick conversation at the start saves a lot of back and forth later.
Get in touch today — let’s get your next print project off to the best possible start.