Using Creative Briefs and Getting Details

Too often designers are other creatives jump right into the computer and fire up Photoshop or InDesign and complete forget pen, paper, and little brainstorming. Laying out your ideas on paper first will save you time because you can work out problems and ideas much more quickly and change them without a lot of effort. Not to mention that you will also have a guide or road map rather having to complete trust your memory.

If a client gives you a creative brief go over it with a fine tooth comb and make sure you didn’t miss anything. Its better to kill a small amount of time going over this document and making sure you understand exactly what the client wants, than making simple mistakes and oversights, and having to reproduce your work.

In the event that your boss or supervisor ask you why you haven’t started a project yet, just calmly let them know that you are going over the brief to make sure you didn’t miss anything. It’s entirely too easy to have gotten the wrong dimensions for a document, or misread the context of an assignment.

In the event a client hasn’t given you a brief, you should have a standard one that you use; either submit it to the client to fill out, or give them a call, ask the necessary questions and fill out the brief yourself. This may seem like adding another step and more time to your design process, but the time it will save you can’t be overlooked.

Roberto Blake

Roberto Blake is a Professional Graphics Designer and Photographer, living in Fayetteville NC, has work been working with Photoshop® for over 8 years now, and Flash® for the past 5 years.

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