{"id":7644,"date":"2023-02-09T09:26:58","date_gmt":"2023-02-09T09:26:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.teamly.com\/blog\/?p=7644"},"modified":"2023-02-09T12:34:27","modified_gmt":"2023-02-09T12:34:27","slug":"creative-brief-examples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.teamly.com\/blog\/creative-brief-examples\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Give a Project Liftoff With a Creative Brief"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s easy to relish excellence when we see it. Not a few of us watch the Super Bowl just for all those creative commercials that reel us in, inspire us and make us laugh. Or we might have made a memorable trip to an iconic building that captures the soul of a city, such as the Dancing House in Prague. And all of us have discovered a product that fits so well into our lifestyles that after just a few weeks we wonder how we ever lived without it.<\/p>\n

In all of these instances, the creator had a firm grasp of the project’s essence, and the function it was meant to serve.<\/p>\n

More often than not, however, the final deliverable<\/a> in a creative project conjures up a ‘meh’ response. Every day we come across architecture that’s blah, products that are full of flaws, and commercials that land with a dud. In these instances, it’s quite likely the project lacked coherence from the start. The client and creative team never crystalised the project’s \u201cwhy\u201d and so the deliverable was fuzzy and subpar.<\/p>\n

During the initial conversations of any project, the job of creatives on a team is to assemble the hodgepodge of musts, desires and ideas a client brings to them. In essence, this criteria comprises the creative brief. It identifies the limitations and clarifies the essence of what \u201cthere\u201d looks like, as well as propels the team onto innovation and creativity.<\/p>\n

Let’s take a deeper dive into the topic of creative briefs and consider the functions and components of one, then look at a few examples of creative briefs shared by professional artists and makers.<\/p>\n

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<\/span>The Function of a Creative Brief<\/span><\/h2>\n

A creative brief is written at the inception stage for a project or marketing campaign. It is a statement put together by the client and the creative team.<\/p>\n

The creative brief is the project’s vision. It’s been given a variety of descriptions to clarify its function within a project. Some call it the project’s DNA, others call it the plot starter for the creative journey and still others call it the \u201cproject starter\u201d that allows the project to ferment and bubble during the execution stage. The creative brief articulates the \u201cwhy\u201d of the project.<\/p>\n

True to its name, a creative brief is short. Some say that the best can be summarized in a sentence or two, while most never exceed two pages.<\/p>\n

A creative brief sets necessary limits on the project and propels the team to think creatively. This entails including certain information within the brief and keeping other information out.<\/p>\n

What a Creative Brief Includes<\/h3>\n

A creative brief describes the idea or the purpose of a project. More than providing specificity, it explains how the deliverable adds value, what it enables in someone’s lifestyle, or what it compels the end user to do.<\/p>\n

Take the example of a project to redesign a backyard. The creative brief doesn’t lay out a lot of specifics to include the end result, such as a fire pit, several Adirondack chairs, a pizza oven and a pergola. Rather, it states that the final deliverable must create a welcoming space for people to gather in the summer.<\/p>\n

For a technological product, the brief might state that the aim is to minimize multitasking<\/a> in the lives of busy professionals. Clearly, a product that solves this problem could take a variety of forms.<\/p>\n

And ideally, the brief doesn’t include a whole lot of redundancy. In its final form, it’s a lean document that cuts to the heart of the project.<\/p>\n

Creative John C Jay of the marketing agency GX outlines the parameters of a good brief: \u201cThe more concise, the sharper the point of view as to what is the problem, the better the work will be.\u201d<\/p>\n

A creative brief without too much specificity gives the team clearance to come up with creative and innovative solutions. However, a brief does have one foot firmly planted in reality. For example, it generally includes a timeline and a budget. Oftentimes a project has other limitations as well. The right mix of limitation and latitude positions the team in a sweet spot for creativity to flourish.<\/p>\n

What a Creative Brief Doesn\u2019t Include<\/h3>\n

Although in days gone by, creative briefs laid out specifics around the materials or the media to utilize in the project, the modern briefs tend to exclusively focus on the project’s \u201cwhy\u201d and to leave the \u201cwhat\u201d and the \u201chow\u201d for the team to dig in and solve during the project’s execution.<\/p>\n

A creative brief that is too long or specific may function like a pair of handcuffs rather than a pair of wings. And so any excess has been carefully trimmed out.<\/p>\n

How a Creative Brief Works Into the Project<\/h3>\n

A creative brief, again, functions as the yeast that allows a project to propagate and grow. It propels the team. And while a solution develops out of the brief, it doesn’t function like a timeline or a Gantt chart and provide a linear solution.<\/p>\n

A team might even push up against a creative brief. As he recounts in the film Briefly<\/em>, designer Yves B\u00e9har of the company Fuseproject assumed the role of the contrarian when designing a chair for a European company. The client pointed out that all mid-range chairs in Europe have a foam or cushion backrest, implying that this chair must as well. B\u00e9har instead designed a chair with a metal backrest.<\/p>\n

The creative brief develops and evolves with the project. It’s a reflection of the relationship between the client and the team. Although it provides a creative with a place to start, it may very well change as the project evolves. If the brief starts to constrain or frustrate the team, it may be scrapped entirely. It’s not uncommon for a creative brief to be rewritten several times throughout a project as new ideas emerge or the consumer needs change.<\/p>\n

With these parameters in mind, let’s look at a simple formula for creating the outline of a creative brief.<\/p>\n

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<\/span>A Creative Brief Formula<\/span><\/h2>\n

Although in its final form, a creative brief often ends up at around two pages, the essence of a strong, well-defined brief can be encapsulated in a few sentences.<\/p>\n

Let’s look at a simple formula that helps to distill the essence of the brief and provide it with focus. This formula is known as the \u201cget, who, to, by\u201d method. Here are its four components:<\/p>\n