July’s image is titled “Starter Pack” and is a bit of a tongue-in-cheek poke at ourselves and the “hipster” gear one needs to become a “designer”.
But for you, our clients, it doesn’t really matter what gear we use – as long as we produce the best outcome possible for your design brief.
“*Wait. Design brief?” I hear you say, “Is that something we need?”
Our answer – absolutely.
A design brief is our best friend, as it is yours! It serves us – in being able to create a scope of works, provide an accurate quote and allocate the right resources to your project – but it also helps you by providing us with all the information we need to completely smash your brief and provide you with a solution that meets requirements and exceeds expectations.
Furthermore, by taking the time to write a design brief it allows you to sit down and really focus on the aims of the project, what the outcomes need to be and to clearly define your expectations.
A good place to start is with the classic who, what, when, how and why questions:
- Who are you? Tell us about your business.
- What is the aim of the project? What is the outcome or result you’re trying to achieve?
- When do you need the work completed by? Include any significant launch dates and other factors that drive the time-frame.
- How will the project be rolled out? Consider your expectations around the roll-out phase.
- Why are you undertaking this activity? Inform us as to why there’s a need for change.
So there you have it – a really basic framework for a design brief – your own “design starter pack”. Remember, a design brief doesn’t have to be a big, official, overwhelming document. Sure, for some larger projects that’s required, but a lot of the time we can develop a useful and informative design brief by collecting a few basic pieces of information from you.