Logo Design Brief 5 IMPORTANT DESIGN BRIEF QUESTIONS. Internet Management com

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1 Design Brief First of All What is a Design Brief? A design brief is information that you give to your logo or graphic designer - it explains to them what you want to achieve from the project (logo design, or any other design project for that matter), and acts as a reference for the designer to work from. Design briefs save time and money because they reduce the risk of the designer misinterpreting your needs and the resultant multiple design revisions or new concepts that can arise from this. In today s age of logo design factories it s not uncommon to expect 10 logo design concepts to be thrown at you but a good logo designer working from a detailed brief shouldn t need to create anywhere that number of concepts before they get it right. Who Compiles the Brief? I feel that it is the designer that is experienced in this area, it is their duty to ask you the right questions and to compile the brief that way rather than expecting the client to provide the right information off their own back. The client is experienced in their own area of business; that isn t the business of design and so they may not understand what sort of information they should be providing. However, having said that, I m very aware that many designers do work from nothing more than what the client decides to give them, with no further questioning of their own. So in the absence of questions from your designer, what sort of information should you be giving them about your business and design needs to improve your chances of them developing a fantastic design for you? 5 IMPORTANT DESIGN BRIEF QUESTIONS Detailed Business Information Your designer needs to know more about your business than just your industry. Try to tell them a bit about how you operate (or in the case of start-ups how you intend to operate), what sort of products and/or services you will offer your customers, and in what way you intend to market yourself to those customers. Target Market One of the, if not the most important question of all. How can a designer ensure that your business identity or marketing message (in the case of other design services such as print design for example or web design) appeals to your customers if they don t know who your customers are?! Tell your designer what sort of customer will be buying your products and/or services and where or how they will buy them. Your Competitors It can be useful to outline some of your competitors and give your designer a link to their website. USP What is your unique selling point? What will set you apart from your competitors? What are you offering that is better/different from them? If you can explain this, along with any other brand ethos you plan to live by, your designer is better positioned to ensure your designs project that image and visually sell your USP. Taglines Tell your designer before they start if there is a tagline that must be included in their brand design. Depending on the design it can sometimes be a nightmare to add in a tagline later on to a design that wasn t created with spacing for a tagline in mind and you don t want a great design looking as though it has had one tagged on (excuse my pun! ha ha) as an afterthought do you?

2 Example Questionnaire 1 Name (if any) to appear on logo: Please give a description of your business along with the kind of products or services you offer: Please list any company logo's, famous or otherwise that you like. Provide a web address if available: List any colours or particular features that you would not like in your logo: List any colours or particular features that you would like in your logo: Please list any additional ideas that you would like to incorporate into your logo: Please state if you are interested in a letterhead design:

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4 Design Brief How To Write An Effective Design Brief A design brief is a written explanation - given to a designer - outlining the aims, objectives and milestones of a design project. A thorough and articulate design brief is a critical part of the design process. It helps develop trust and understanding between the client and designer - and serves as an essential point of reference for both parties. Above all, the design brief ensures that important design issues are considered and questioned before the designer starts work. This article outlines some of the most important factors to consider when writing your design brief. Company Profile Start your design brief with a short, honest synopsis of your organisation or company. Don't take this information for granted, and don't assume that the designer will necessarily know anything about your industry sector. Tell your designer: What your organisation does How long you have been established and how many staff you employ What your niche market is How you fit in to your industry sector Your Aims Good design can have a huge influence on the success of a company's marketing strategy - but in order for success to be ensured, clear goals must be set. For example, do you want to: Generate sales? Encourage enquiries? Gain newsletter subscribers? Obtain information from your audience? Encourage them to tell a friend? If your aims and objectives are not this clear, then your design brief has already achieved another purpose... One of most rewarding parts of actually sitting down and writing a design brief is that it helps to clarify your thoughts and can indirectly help to find flaws in what you initially thought was a solid idea. Your Target Audience Detail your primary, secondary and tertiary audiences. Explain if you are looking to consolidate your existing client-base or appeal to new markets. Detail any demographic figures about your audience that may be useful to the designer. These may include: Age Sex Income Occupation Location

5 Your Budget And Time-Scale Even if you can only provide a ball-park figure, a budget expectation will give the designer a good idea of the type of solution they will realistically be able to provide. Time scale is also an important consideration - so let your designer know if there is a specific deadline that has to be met. Consult with Colleagues Consult with as many people within your organisation as possible before sending the brief. Showing the design brief to different people may reveal remarkable differences in the way people see your organisation's aims and objectives. Resolving any differences in opinion will save considerable time and expense further down the line. Language Whilst you should write in clear, concise way - there is no reason why you cannot use emotive language to emphasise exactly what you are trying to achieve. Design Examples Providing examples of what you consider to be effective or relevant design can be a great help in writing a design brief. Make sure to include samples of your company's current marketing materials - even their only purpose is to explain what you don't want from your new marketing materials! If there is a design style that you particularly like or dislike - then explain why in the brief. If you're not entirely sure why you like a certain design style, then good starting points include: Colour Imagery Quantity and quality of text Typography The atmosphere that particular designs create Don't feel that you have stick to the medium that you are designing for when giving a list of inspiration and influences. If a television advert or music video creates the atmosphere that you want your flyer to create, then that is a perfectly reasonable statement to make in a design brief. The more clues you give about your design tastes, the more likely the designer will be able to produce something close to your aims. Expecting your designer to second-guess what you require rarely produces the best results. Remember that professional designers will not copy the ideas you send them... but will use them as the start of the design process.

6 Final Tips & Thoughts The logo should be able to be reduced in size and still be recognizable The logo should be able to be photocopied or reproduced in grey-scale and still be recognizable The shape of the logo is important ideally, it should be of similar height and width An extendible logo can also be created: extendible extendible extendible A logo should be representative of the organisation A logo should be representative of the employees A logo should be appeal to the target market Use Specify in the brief how and where the logo will be used As the logo is a part of the Identity, remember to include in the design brief the requirement for accompanying design work: Letterhead Business Cards Compliments Slips Other stationery Formats Remember to specify how the logo (and accompanying design work) should be delivered: Digital media (CD-Rom) Various File Formats Scalable Vector Graphic (SVG) Bitmap Proprietary formats (if available) such as Adobe Illustrator PDF for Stationery OpenOffice Document Template (MS Word Template) for stationery Request the following detailed information: Which fonts (if any) were used Exact CMYK and / or RGB colours used dimensions