How to write a PRO creative project brief + free template download

Hi there!

So, either:

• You’re a business owner/freelancer, who needs to help clients write creative briefs for new projects

• Orrr… You’re a client, who needs help writing creative project briefs for your freelancer

Either way, welcome! This applies to you. And I hope this guide helps you level-up the creative briefs you write! 😃

Take the time to read through each section - I promise it’s worth it! - and feel free to ask anything that doesn’t make sense in the comments. I’ll help as best as I can!

Intro: What to expect in this guide

• Brief introduction to why creative project briefs matter

• 5 guiding principles for a good creative brief

• A look inside what makes up a creative project brief

• A template creative project brief you can download and edit

Part 1: Why creative project briefs matter

We need a clear problem to solve, something that is focused but not prescriptive. Otherwise, we are flailing in the dark without a clear understanding at the end of what success looks like.

Creative project briefs help us:

• Address the need for the output and the deliverables

• Distill what we’re actually trying to achieve (just a logo, versus a stronger emotional connection to new customers, versus a way to stand out from competitors in an ever-more saturated industry — three very different problems)

Part 2: Principles for a good project brief

1. Briefs need a distinct challenge

• Some challenges sound good on paper (“I want to create a sponsorship prospectus”), but can be improved massively by defining what the distinct challenge actually is (“I want a sponsorship prospectus that highlights higher tiers to our corporate customers, while still making lower tier participation accessible and valuable to our smaller customers”)

• A distinct challenge gives the project an easier metric for success down the line. Without that, it’s hard to gauge if the project succeeded or not

• In this example: If we shipped a paragraph on a Google Doc with all the sponsorship options we have, have we achieved the original goal we set out to do?

2. Briefs should be hard to finish

• If it’s hard, it means it’s well thought-through, and that you’re actually engaging with the project and the problem you’re trying to solve

• Don’t shy away from a struggle - this is a critical step to your project’s success 🙂

• To deepen a brief, ask yourself:

  • What other insights and perspectives can I gather (online, from other people, from competitors…)?

  • How could I write this in one sentence, without losing clarity?

  • If I imagine I was Person X, what would they write? What about Person Y?

3. Briefs can (and should) evolve

• As you write, you might realise that you can go back and adjust previous parts of the brief.

• You should welcome this: It means you’re refining what you’re asking for, and getting a clearer understanding of what problem your trying to solve

• A clearer idea of the brief as a whole - the direction you want to go, the impact you want to have, etc. - will make easier down the line to give feedback, iterate on solutions, etc.

• Note: It is also important to have a definition of done, so that you don’t evolve this endlessly and never move to execution. Bring this up with your project partner early on.

4. Briefs touch multiple parts of your goal

• A logo, at its core, is an image - but it’s also your brand, your marketing, your merchandise, your messaging and narrative…

• A website is a nice looking page online - but it’s also the first impression customers get of you, how you capture email addresses, how you present your products and your pricing, the experience you give to someone online, where you showcase your team and your company culture…

• Briefs will often will be multidisciplinary, and it’s important to consider that secondary and tertiary aspects to your project in the brief to avoid scope creep or surprises down the line

5. Briefs should be brief

• It’s in the name! 😉

• Briefs shouldn’t be a hassle to read - they should inspire ideas, motivate productivity, and set the tone for the project as a whole

• Furthermore: It’s easier to write something long-winded, than something concise - a short brief means you’ve likely distilled your goal down to the root problem.

Part 3: Sections of a creative project brief

With our guiding principles in hand, we’ll look at the contents of a creative project brief next - and thereafter you’ll get a template with everything we’ve covered in this guide to take a crack at writing one yourself!

1. Objective: What we’re trying to achieve

• Primary function: Define “The Ask”

• What is “The Ask”?

  • Complete this sentence: “How might we [proposed action - make or do something] to [achieve an ideal state] for [audience] using [surprising insight, hypothesis, novel method]”

• Then, create a problem statement / goal state, and then do a 5 Why’s:

  • We need a new website - why?

  • We’re changing our product offerings - why?

  • Our current offerings do not appeal to our customers - why?

  • The landscape for our product and our competitors has shifted, and our customers care about different things - why?

  • Our customers have realised the value of X - why?

  • The philosophy around X has shifted towards Y

• This helps you uncover the underlying reasons, motivations, contexts, and peripheral factors influencing the project as a whole

2. Context: How it relates to the world

• Primary function: Understand the components of your project

• Areas to explore are Audience, Competitors, Product, Brand & Marketing

• Product:

  • What recent events triggered this project?

  • What are the key unique features of your product?

  • What problem does your audience have? And why does this product solve it better than anything else out there?

• Audience:

  • Who is the audience?

  • What do they need?

  • What are their perceptions and worldviews?

  • Always prioritise psychographics over demographics (ie. how they think is more valuable than their income bracket and their social status)

• Competitors:

  • Who are the competitors in this field?

  • How are they innovating?

  • What do we want to be inspired by?

  • In what ways do we want to be defiantly different from them?

• Brand & Marketing:

  • What is the key message that needs to be conveyed to customers?

  • What are the existing brand/marketing strategies?

  • What are the current communication strategies and narratives in place?

3. Constraints: Define the edges of the creative sandbox

• Primary function: Set limits, in order to supercharge creativity within those limits

• Goal:

  • If we do nothing else, what must we achieve?

• Timing:

  • What timing imperatives are there?

  • Why do they exist?

• Budget:

  • What’s the available budget?

  • Is there any contingency?

Part 4: Creative project brief template

Click the image above, make a copy, and draft away!

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to comment on this post or pop me an email. 🤗

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