Almost every business owner who’s worked with a designer has a story. The logo that came back looking nothing like what they had in mind. The brochure that had to go through six rounds of revisions because something kept feeling off but nobody could quite articulate what. The project that started with enthusiasm and ended with someone just saying “fine, let’s go with it” out of exhaustion.

These experiences tend to get chalked up to creative differences or a mismatch in style. But the honest truth is that most frustrating design projects aren’t design problems — they’re communication problems. The designer didn’t have enough of the right information to do their best work, and the client didn’t know what information to provide. Both parties end up disappointed, and the project suffers for it.

A good creative brief fixes this before the first concept is ever drawn. Here’s how to put one together — and what to include so your next design project actually lands the way you envisioned it.

Start With the Purpose, Not the Product

The most common mistake people make when briefing a designer is leading with the deliverable rather than the goal. “I need a brochure” is not a brief. “I need something I can leave with potential clients after a sales meeting that reminds them what we do and gives them a clear reason to call us” is much closer to one.

The purpose behind the piece shapes everything — the format, the tone, the hierarchy of information, the call to action. A designer who understands that a postcard needs to communicate one thing in three seconds is going to make very different decisions than a designer who’s been told to “make a postcard about our services.” One of those briefs produces a focused, effective piece. The other produces something that tries to do too much and ends up doing nothing particularly well.

Before you reach out to a designer, spend five minutes writing down what you want someone to think, feel, or do after they see the piece. That answer is the foundation of a useful brief.

Tell Them Who It’s For

Designers make choices — about color, typography, imagery, density of information — based on who they think is going to be receiving the piece. If they don’t know who that audience is, they’re guessing. And their guess might be reasonable, but it’s still a guess.

The more specific you can be about your audience, the better. Not just “small business owners” but “small business owners in the Indianapolis suburbs who are probably between 35 and 55, run service-based businesses, and have worked with vendors before but aren’t necessarily sophisticated buyers.” That level of specificity changes the design. It affects whether the language is technical or plain, whether the layout is dense or spacious, whether the visual style skews corporate or approachable.

If you have examples of marketing materials that have resonated with your audience in the past — even from other companies — share those too. A reference point is worth a thousand words of description.

Equally useful, and often overlooked, is telling a designer what you don’t want. If there’s a style, a color, or an approach that you actively dislike — or that your competitors use and you want to avoid — say so upfront. It’s much easier to steer away from something at the brief stage than to course-correct after a concept has been developed in exactly that direction.

This is also a good place to share your brand guidelines if you have them — logo files, brand colors, approved fonts, any rules about how your brand should or shouldn’t be represented. A designer working within an established brand system needs those guardrails. Without them, they’re building in the dark.

Be Clear About the Practical Constraints

Design exists in the real world, and the real world has constraints. Format, size, budget, and timeline all shape what’s possible — and a designer who knows about them upfront can work within them intentionally rather than bumping into them mid-project.

If the piece needs to be a specific size because it’s going into an existing rack or mailing envelope, say so. If there’s a hard deadline tied to an event or campaign launch, name the date. If the printing budget is fixed and certain finishing options are off the table, share that too. None of this limits creativity — in fact, good designers often do their most creative work within defined constraints, because the problem is clear and the solution space is focused.

It’s also worth mentioning how the piece is going to be used — handed out in person, mailed, displayed at a trade show, left in a waiting room. The print specifications that make sense for a mailer are different from those for a conference handout, and a designer who knows the end use can make decisions that serve it.

When reviewing a concept, try to separate emotional reactions from specific observations. It’s fine to say something doesn’t feel right — but follow it with your best attempt at explaining why, even if that explanation is imperfect. Designers are good at translating imprecise feedback into design decisions, but they need something to work with.

At Davant, our design team treats every project as a collaboration. We ask questions, share the reasoning behind our choices, and welcome the kind of honest feedback that actually moves a project forward. The goal is always a piece that works for your business — not one that just looks good on our end.

Ready to Start a Design Project the Right Way?

Davant Indy offers design services for businesses throughout Greenfield and the greater Indianapolis area. Whether you’re starting from scratch or refreshing something that’s due for an update, we’ll ask the right questions upfront so the final product is something you’re genuinely proud to put in front of people.

Contact us online or give us a call at (317) 849-6565 to get started.