THE GOOD BRIEF | Episode 2 – Red flags of a brief that will go wrong
After more than 10 years of freelance commercial illustration, I have worked with startups, large companies, German, Dutch, and Spanish studios, and French agencies. This experience has taught me one essential thing: the quality of the brief determines the quality of the final result.
In this three-part series, I share my recipe for creating a perfect brief. We’ll see how to cook up an effective brief, and how a multifunction robot can ruin everything.
On the menu for this series:
Episode 1: Perfect brief vs. failed brief: the creative divide
Episode 2: Red flags of a brief that will go wrong
Episode 3: The recipe for a perfect brief
In my practice, it all starts with two fundamental questions that the client must ask themselves:
- Who is the company/brand targeting?
- What message does it want to convey?
Knowing who the illustrations are aimed at allows me to tailor my proposals. The tone, style, level of detail, cultural references… everything depends on the target audience. A visual intended for corporate decision-makers is not designed in the same way as a visual for the general public or teenagers.
These questions may seem obvious, but they are sometimes overlooked. Sometimes the client knows they want “something modern” or “something professional,” but they haven’t identified their audience or their specific message.
The German studio mentioned in episode #1 had answered these questions even before our first exchange. Nothing to report.
The AI brief, produced by a large French company, proposed visual solutions without defining the problem or the goal of the communication. A concrete example: when I asked who the messages were intended for, I was given a list of media and formats: “It will be for animations and print brochures.” Nothing to do with identified human recipients. This confusion between the ‘how’ (the media) and the “who” (the audience) is indicative of incomplete thinking.
Some warning signs to look out for…
My experience has taught me to identify certain red flags that signal a complicated collaboration:
1. The agency brief without an identified client: “We can’t tell you who it’s for, but we want a quote for a mascot.” It’s difficult to plan ahead…
2. The budget dodge: “We don’t have a specific budget,” followed by “it’s too expensive” a few days later. This approach cuts off any constructive discussion.
3. AI images without intention When a client uses artificial intelligence to generate visuals before clarifying their ideas, I see it as a sign that their thinking hasn’t had time to mature. Maybe it’s scheduling constraints, maybe it’s confusion between visualizing and conceptualizing, but either way, it’s the end of the road.
4. The absence of a graphic charter/mood board “Do what you feel” sometimes hides a lack of strategic vision that will prove problematic in the validation phase.
Fortunately, I have defined a method for creating briefs that work. In the next episode, I will share with you the essential ingredients of a good brief and how to use AI effectively in the creative process.