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How to give a visualiser a great creative brief

News | How-to

How To: Give A Visualiser A Great Creative Brief

A Guide For Clients by Lim visualiser, Phoebe Robinson

As visualisers, graphic recorders and illustrators, we receive creative briefs every day. But often, they lack information, haven’t been signed off, and stall or even stop projects completely.

To avoid this, we’ve put together a guide for clients on how to nail a creative brief, so we can work together efficiently and support each other to produce our best work.

This is the formula for creating a golden creative brief ✨.

But wait, what is a creative brief?

A creative brief is the outline of a creative project. It should have all the important information needed for us to get started on creating amazing work for your business.

To do this, you need to tick these boxes. The Why, What, Who, and When.

How to give a visualiser a great creative brief

Tick these boxes to give a great brief.

Why do you want it?

The big why. You should be able to clearly say in a punchy sentence why this visual is important.

For example: 'I need to share the 2030 vision and strategy with the Innovation function in an informative and engaging way.'

What do we need to include?

This is where you’ll share details for the project. We suggest splitting this information into ‘content’ and context’.

Context:

  • What is the current context you're working in?

  • What are we creating the visual for?

  • What is plan for using the visual once you have it?

For example: 'The Senior Leadership Team have agreed the 2030 vision and strategy. The innovation function is growing quickly to keep up with demand in the market. All eyes are on us because we are working well together and have clear processes. Yet, I need my team to raise their gaze and start focussing on the long term goals. Along with focus, the visual will bring everyone together and allow everyone on the team to tell the same story. This visual will be for internal use.

Content:

  • What are the dos and don’ts? Identify what needs to be included and what needs to be avoided.

  • What are your guardrails? Think brand guidelines, logos, fonts, sizes, digital or print?

  • What is the tone? Should the visual be playful or serious? Quirky and conversational or informative?

  • What is your inspirations / references? While staying open-minded, a good collection of creative references can help the visual development of a project.

For example: The visual needs to include references to our product and the locations we work in. We have brand guidelines that'll I'll share with you as well as logos and fonts. This visual is for digital use and I don't expect the visual to be printed. The size of the visual should be PowerPoint size. The tone of the visual should be bold, directional and playful. I have some references of previous work we have done that I really like, there are also elements that don't work too.

When do you need it by?

When is the deadline? Be realistic with your timings.

For example: The deadline is 1 month from now. We have all the content ready to go and clear where all files and references are. We can have a fast start to the project.

Who are the people

  • Who are we creating the visual for?
  • Who are the key stakeholders as we work through the project? Who is going to do what?
  • Who are the decision makers that need to sign off the final visual?

Defining this will help us create something that resonates and connects with your audience. It’s important to be clear and specific when describing the demographic, including the wants, needs and expectations of the audience.

For example: This visual is for the Innovation Function. We work across multiple locations. There are 3 of us who will be working with you on this project and we can make the final decision. We trust your creativity and we'll bring our knowledge and understanding of the work.

And finally

No matter what we’re supporting you on, whether it’s graphic recording, comms visual or a playbook hitting these points and being open-minded to all possibilities will make sure we’re well on our way to delivering your dream project.

This is the first of our Client Guide series. Watch this space for more helpful tips and guides on how to get the best from your visuals and visualiser. 💫