Practical checklist
What to Send a Designer Before the First Meeting.
A useful brief gives everyone a shared starting point. It does not need every answer before the first conversation.
Published
Before you send it
Start with what you know.
A useful brief can contain unknowns. Mark what still needs a decision rather than filling gaps with guesses. That makes the first meeting more useful and gives the project a clear list of questions to resolve.
Keep the information close to the work: share the context, the people it is for and the material that already exists. The checklist below is a practical prompt, not a test to pass.
The checklist
Nine things worth bringing together.
- 01
Objectives
What needs to change, clarify or help someone decide? State the purpose in plain language before describing the output.
- 02
Audience
Who needs to understand or act on the work, and what do they already know?
- 03
Deliverables
List the pieces of work you expect, even if the list is still provisional.
- 04
Required formats
Name the places the work needs to appear, such as print, a presentation, a website or social channels.
- 05
Existing assets
Share brand guidelines, copy, images, logos, previous files and any material that must be retained.
- 06
Examples
Show references that clarify the direction, and explain what is useful about each one.
- 07
Constraints
Note fixed requirements, approvals, technical limits, legal considerations and anything the work must avoid.
- 08
Decision-makers
Identify who needs to review the work and who can make the final decision.
- 09
Feedback
Agree how feedback will be collected, combined and returned so the next decision is clear.
Next step
Turn the useful parts into a conversation.
If the work is centred on a design need, see how we approach graphic design. For a fuller project brief, the planner can help collect the details.