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The brief you provide to designers is of paramount importance and is not
to be dashed off in half an hour.

To an extent, designers are only as good as what you give them to work with. That's why the brief you provide is of paramount importance. It marks the point where the speculation stops and the work begins, and at all stages in the design process it's the point of reference that both designers and clients can go back to for clarification.

Ample time spent on a thorough design brief will be rewarded with a smooth-running project and a worthwhile outcome.

Outcome not output

A brief should set out what you want to achieve rather than how you want to achieve it. It should discuss the issue you face, be it new competition or falling exports, not the new products or services you want to launch as the solution.

Don't miss the obvious

The designer's search for the appropriate solution will be helped by the statement of what kind of business or organisation you are, what you do and who you do it for.

While a brief should be concise and cogent rather than rambling, it's also a good idea not to assume any knowledge on the part of the designer, and it's better to provide more detail, than to leave possible question marks.

Clarity counts

Don't be afraid to communicate emotively in a brief if you think it will promote a shared vision or passion about what the outcome should be. For instance saying you want an exhibition that `stops people in their tracks' may be more effective than asking for `an installation which communicates attractively and engagingly with its audience.'

Although it's not an absolute requirement, there are benefits to the designer actually helping to construct a detailed brief, not least the greater likelihood that both designer and client will sing from the same proverbial hymn sheet. Design input at this early stage could also give you a valuable new perspective on your perceived problem before your thinking on it becomes too rigid.

Clarity is just as important in other aspects of the brief – a designer must know what the criteria will be for judging their success, they must be aware of schedules and any critical milestones along the way to the final deadline, and they will benefit from a clearly broken down budget for the overall project their work fits into. The project is also likely to benefit from clearly delineated responsibilities.

Don't fear flexibility

It's quite possible, once a project is underway, that a brief may need to change. This doesn't make it a bad brief, and provided changes are fully discussed and agreed they won't undermine the core brief.