How to write a good Briefing

The briefing is the most important thing in a project, like the terms and conditions of the project.

The briefing is a written document that collects all the information obtained in the initial investigation, with the dialogue with the client, the dialogue with users, and the observation of deficiencies in the market.

Briefings exist to develop the design, communication, and advertising services.

It points out the problem, and limits objectives, expectations, and possibilities.

The pot is proposed by the company as a commission for the designer. It can be proposed by the designer as a proposal for a project or for a company. It can be prepared by an external agency for the company/designer.

The Briefing allows us to verify the contextual information we have about the context, the client, and the market and the correct identification of the observation of the needs, and the correct visualization of the opportunities to carry out the project.

The briefing serves to define “the promise”:
- Budgeting Accurately assess project costs and aspects to determine the complexity of the work to properly plan time and resources.
– Guide Frame the project. Determine the limits. Define the objectives. During the project, the designers have in the briefing a reference for their work and a document for constant consultation and revision.
– Evaluate. Study the proposals, rethinking, and arguments. Self-evaluate the partial and final results. Being able to meet the expectations generated. It will have the specifications and conditions of the product design. It is the first level of completion of an assignment. Furthermore, it manifests itself and takes shape in viable ideas.

It can be in different formats and can be very extensive on several pages or very summarized, on a single page, usually containing the following information:
1. (WHO) COMPANY. Remarkable information about the organization analyzes the identity and application of the brand, provided by the client or the result of a search and analysis. — The company. Information on the origin, the trajectory… Analyzes of the catalog itself that it offers. (Product / Service, Language, Collaborations, Cross-branding, Designers, Slogans…

2. (WHERE..) LOCATION / PRODUCT / MARKET. Product or Service in the market. Direct/indirect competition (Prices, dimensions, materials, weight…). Analysis of Locations (Plan, Dimensions) Points of sale (Where, how, and with whom the product is sold)

3. (FOR) USERS. Consumer/user / recipient profile. Analysis of direct users (they will use the product/service) /indirect (they will buy it, or use it in some phases of the process.) Targeted market segment. Photographs, portraits, and images of objects they use. Objects, Situations, or Brands related to the user of the segment.

4. (WHAT) TYPOLOGY or TYPES OF THE COLLECTION or SYSTEMS Possible presentation of one or several ideas without their representation. Listings Design needs and opportunities.

5. (BECAUSE) CONCEPTS. Keywords that will contain the intent of the project. It can be presented in a mood board or concept map with images.

6. (COM) ADJECTIVES. Added values ​​pursued by the strategy in order to put in the system, collection, product, or service.

The briefing should contain annexes with complementary documentation or links to sources of information:

– Important information about the company’s values, mission, and brand essence. The vision of the company, of the managers who run it, of the consultants who advise it. Strategic information on which products or services they produce annually and which areas they enhance in, for example, advertising to understand where the growth efforts are going. Corporate information on how the graphic image works in its products, how the logo, colors, dimensions, and applications are usually applied, Corporate Image Manual. Examples of other designers who have collaborated with the brand, how they have incorporated ideas or how they understand innovation.
– Brand positioning strategy information, where you want to position yourself with the order for this product.
– Analyzes the products of your direct and indirect competition through links to their catalogs.
– Catalogs of the proposed company link to possible printed or online catalogs, with the sectors the brand touches, and the specific catalog where the product to be designed will appear.
– A range of possibilities for materials and production processes for the product could be attached, such as finishes that can be achieved by the brand, the sector, or the suppliers.

With the briefing, the contract would be determined: terms and limits of the exploitation of the idea or design.
– Essential requirements that our project must have. (materials, adapting to certain technologies or processes, quantities of planned units, costs.) Production inside and outside the company, suppliers and own resources, Regulations or legislation affecting the design. The internal team that will collaborate on the project. Identify interlocutors (charges, responsibilities and functions)
– Design Plan. Delivery dates. Deadlines, follow-up calendar, work teams.
– Payments. For royalties. For the Project. Determine the collection phases.

The briefing should be a document designed to be able to be transferred, sent, and without explaining to be understood and interpreted by any designer who has to carry out the assignment.

The briefing should include a conversation with the client, and an analysis of the opportunities, needs, and problem specifications.