How to Write a Design Brief (With Template)
A design project without a brief is like a road trip without a destination. You might end up somewhere interesting. You probably won’t end up where you needed to go.
A design brief is a short document that aligns you and your designer before any work begins. It captures what you need, who it’s for, what success looks like, and what constraints exist. Done well, it saves weeks of back-and-forth, prevents expensive revisions, and gives your designer everything they need to do their best work.
Here’s how to write one – plus a template you can use right away.
Table of Contents
Before You Read On
- A brief isn’t a creative restriction – it’s the thing that makes good creative work possible
- Most project delays and costly revisions trace back to a missing or vague brief
- You don’t need design experience to write a good brief – you need clarity about your goals
- A one-page brief is better than a ten-page brief that nobody reads
- The template at the end of this post covers everything a designer actually needs
What is a design brief?
A design brief is a written document that outlines the goals, requirements, and context for a design project. It’s typically written by the client (you) and reviewed by the designer before work starts.
It’s not a contract. It’s not a creative brief (which is more about campaign messaging). It’s a practical alignment tool – a shared reference point that both sides can come back to throughout the project.
A good brief answers five core questions:
- What are we making?
- Who is it for?
- What should it achieve?
- What does the designer need to know about the brand?
- What are the practical constraints (timeline, budget, technical requirements)?
Why bother writing one?
Because the alternative is expensive.
Without a brief, designers make assumptions. Some of those assumptions will be wrong. You’ll get a first draft that’s not quite right, request changes, get another draft, request more changes – and before long you’ve spent three times the budget on revisions that a good brief would have prevented.
A brief also forces you to get clear on what you actually want. That process of writing it down often surfaces disagreements, gaps, or assumptions you didn’t know you had. Better to discover those before the designer starts than after.
What to include in a design brief
1. Project overview
A short description of what you’re building and why. Two or three sentences is enough. This isn’t a marketing pitch – it’s a factual summary.
Example: “We’re redesigning our services page to better communicate our three core offerings and drive enquiry form submissions. The current page has a high bounce rate and low conversion.”
2. Business and brand background
Who are you? What do you do, who do you serve, and what makes you different? If you have existing brand guidelines (logo, colours, fonts), mention them here and attach the files.
If you don’t have formal brand guidelines, describe your brand in plain language. Words like “professional but approachable,” “premium without being intimidating,” or “technical but accessible” give a designer a useful starting point.
3. Target audience
Who will actually see and use this design? Be specific. “Everyone” is not a target audience.
Include demographics if relevant (age, location, profession), but more useful is psychographics – what do they care about, what are they trying to achieve, what do they worry about? A designer who understands your audience makes better decisions about layout, tone, and visual hierarchy.
4. Project goals and success criteria
What does success look like? “A nice website” is not a goal. “A 20% increase in enquiry form submissions within 90 days of launch” is a goal.
Be as specific as you can. If there are multiple goals, rank them by priority – designers make trade-off decisions constantly, and knowing what matters most helps them make the right ones.
5. Scope and deliverables
What exactly are you asking for? List the specific deliverables: number of pages, file formats, versions (desktop and mobile, for example), and anything else that needs to be produced.
This is also where you note what’s not included – “copywriting is out of scope” or “we’ll handle photography separately” avoids misunderstandings about what the designer is responsible for.
6. Design direction and references
Share examples of designs you like – and designs you don’t like. Both are useful. For the ones you like, explain what you like about them (the colour palette? the typography? the overall feel?). For the ones you don’t like, same thing.
This isn’t asking the designer to copy someone else’s work. It’s giving them a calibration point for your taste.
7. Technical requirements
Where will this design live? A website? Print? Social media? Each has different requirements. For web projects, mention the platform (WordPress, Shopify), any existing plugins or systems to integrate with, and browser or device requirements.
8. Timeline and budget
Give a realistic timeline with any fixed deadlines clearly flagged. If there’s a product launch, a trade show, or a season driving the deadline – say so. Context helps designers prioritise.
On budget: be honest. Designers aren’t going to inflate their quote because you told them your budget. They’re going to use it to scope the work appropriately. Vague budgets lead to vague quotes.
Common brief mistakes to avoid
Too long. A brief that runs to twenty pages will be ignored. Keep it to one or two pages. If you have supporting documents (brand guidelines, analytics reports), attach them separately rather than embedding everything.
Too vague. “Modern and clean” describes half the internet. Push yourself to be more specific. What brands do you admire? What feeling do you want visitors to have when they land on the page?
No clear goal. If the brief doesn’t articulate what success looks like, the project has no direction. Every design decision needs something to be evaluated against.
Conflicting feedback from multiple stakeholders. If three people are giving input, align internally before briefing the designer. Conflicting instructions mid-project are one of the most common causes of delays and budget overruns.
Leaving out constraints. Budget limits, technical restrictions, brand rules that can’t be broken – tell the designer upfront. Discovering constraints halfway through a project wastes everyone’s time.
Design brief template
Copy this and fill it in before your next project. You can also download the free PDF below.
PROJECT OVERVIEW What are we building, and why are we building it?
BUSINESS BACKGROUND What does the business do? Who does it serve? What makes it different?
BRAND GUIDELINES Attach or describe: logo, colours, fonts, tone of voice. Any rules that must be followed?
TARGET AUDIENCE Who is this designed for? What do they care about? What problem are they trying to solve?
GOALS AND SUCCESS CRITERIA What does success look like? How will we measure it?
SCOPE AND DELIVERABLES What exactly is included? What is explicitly out of scope?
DESIGN REFERENCES 3-5 examples you like (and why). 1-2 examples you don’t like (and why).
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS Platform, integrations, device/browser requirements, file format needs.
TIMELINE Project start date. Key milestones. Hard deadline (and reason, if there is one).
BUDGET Total budget or budget range for this project.
KEY CONTACTS Who is the main point of contact? Who has final approval?
Free Design Brief Template
A one-page fillable PDF covering everything your designer needs. Download it, fill it in, and arrive at your first meeting ready to go.
A brief makes everyone’s job easier
Writing a brief isn’t busywork. It’s the fastest way to get to a design you’re happy with – because it removes guesswork, aligns expectations, and gives your designer a clear target to aim at.
If you’re planning a design project and not sure where to start, the brief is always the right first step. And if you’re not sure what your project actually needs yet, that’s worth figuring out before anyone opens a design tool.
The UX vs web design guide can help you get clearer on which type of design work your project actually calls for – which makes the brief much easier to write.
If you’re ready to talk through a project, get in touch and I can help you think through the brief before any work begins.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long should a design brief be?
One to two pages is ideal for most projects. The goal is clarity, not comprehensiveness. If you have supporting documents like brand guidelines or analytics data, attach them separately rather than including everything in the brief itself. A brief that’s too long won’t get read carefully.
Who writes the design brief - the client or the designer?
Typically the client writes the brief, because it captures business goals and context that the designer won’t know without being told. Some designers will send you a questionnaire to help you structure it, which is a good sign – it means they care about understanding your project before quoting. At Dat Design Lab, a structured intake process is part of every project kickoff.
What if I don't know my budget yet?
Give a range rather than nothing. “We’re thinking €1,000-2,000” is more useful than “we’re not sure yet.” Budget context helps a designer scope the work and be upfront about what’s realistic within your constraints.
Do I need a design brief for a small project?
Even for a single-page redesign or a landing page, a short brief is worth writing. It doesn’t need to cover all eleven points above – a project overview, goal, target audience, and one or two design references is enough. The discipline of writing it down still pays off.
What's the difference between a design brief and a creative brief?
A design brief focuses on the practical requirements of a design project – what’s being made, for whom, within what constraints. A creative brief is more about messaging strategy – the campaign concept, tone of voice, key messages, and emotional response you’re aiming for. For website and UX projects, a design brief is usually what you need.
