It all starts with a Design Brief 

Before we can start on your project with you, we need to know exactly what design help you need. The best way to get this info is through a Design Brief where you can provide some themes, colours, reference pics, imagery, and even descriptive words to help us get an idea of what you are thinking.  

How to write a Design Brief 

When creating a Design Brief, consider five main points:  

  • Objective  
  • Audience 
  • Vision 
  • Key Information 
  • Deliverables  
A good Design Brief is a job half finished. The more detailed info you provide, the smoother the process and the better the results. 

Objective

What is your objective/goal? i.e Are you trying to raise awareness, inform students of an opinion, highlight a service? Detailed background information gives the design team context for your vision.
For example, “Our department noticed students want to help reduce waste. We want to give students a platform where they can discuss creative recycling hacks and create initiatives about sustainability on campus.” 

Audience 

Who are you trying to speak to? Define your target audience and describe what you believe motivates them. 
For example, “We are looking to inspire new students who believe in making the world a more sustainable place. These students are motivated and hungry for change, but also want to have fun along the way.”  

Vision 

What is the best way to communicate with your audience? Describe the personality of your project. How do you want students to feel when they look at the graphics? Is there a theme attached to your project? Supply other graphics – visual references, styles, colours etc – to help us understand your vision. 
For example, “Being sustainable is about being green, so we would like to use that colour as part of our design. We want to appear approachable, friendly, and fun, but convey a message of significant importance to help heal the world. We want students to feel inspired by the designs, that being sustainable can be cool. We have attached examples that inspire us that we would like to see as part of the design.”  

Key Information 

What is the essential information (date, time, location) of your project? What is the most essential information that needs to be included? Is there a call-to-action? What is the deadline? If there is more than one thing that needs to be created, let us know when each is due, and rank each by level of importance. 
For example, “We want to have this event on campus on the first of every month at 1pm. We want to include international and interstate people too. We want people to know that all sustainable ideas will be discussed and considered, and that all students are welcome to attend in person and online.” 

Deliverables 

What is it you actually want created for your project? Is it a poster, flyer, banner, some merchandise? See the standard suited of what we can create.
For example, “We want to promote our event with the standard suite of promotional assets. We also want to include pull-up banners for wayfinding on the day of the event. We want to give students a recycled brochure for those attending. Our most important thing is to promote the event first, so this will be our priority for now.”