What is a creative brief?
A creative brief is a document that sets the stage for the entire production process. Upon completion, it is distributed to key stakeholders and utilized as the source of truth for developing creative assets, including the project’s goals, requirements, critical messaging, target audience demographics, timeframes, and other information.
The Importance of a Creative Brief
The need for creative briefs will be evident to anyone who has attempted a long trip without a map or a GPS. Still, the following are the main takeaways:
● If a creative project is not adequately recorded and tracked, it is susceptible to scope creep.’ This is especially true when there are several stakeholders engaged.
● The creative brief is intended to address this issue and guarantee that all parties involved are on the same page on the project’s aims and approach before any actual production work begins.
The bottom line is quite simple – a creative brief is one of the foundations of the product design process. Without it, it will be like building a house without its foundation.
Using a creative brief, you can guide the creative process while also providing all stakeholders with a centralized location from which to follow progress and deliverables throughout the product development process. A well-written creative brief will save everyone time because all components are agreed upon ahead of time — there will be no need for disagreements. Deliverables are out the door faster when there is a well-established approval workflow inside the creative brief to follow.
Everyone is responsible for the portions of the brief that they have been assigned, making it easy to identify areas of the brief that may require attention.
How to Write a Creative Brief
A clear, understandable message is the number one factor in a well-written and efficient brief. Keep your writing simple, straightforward, and make sure that everybody who participates in the project can fully understand it.
Creative briefs are constructed differently from team to team. However, there are crucial elements that are common to all of them:
● The history of the project. What is the purpose of producing this product/creative? What is the situation?
● Stakeholders. Who will be involved in the creation of this piece of artwork? Who will be the final sign-off approver, and when will they do so?
● Goals and objectives are set forth. What should the end outcome of this project be, and what are the deliverables, are the following questions:
● Timescales. How long do you think it should take to complete the final creative? Will there be significant turning points along the way?
● The intended audience. Who are we trying to reach, or what are we trying to accomplish by creating this piece of work?
Finally, it’s important to remember that the primary audience of the creative brief is probably going to be your product team. For that reason, it will be wise to make the creative brief understandable and clear for a designer or developer.
