THE GOOD BRIEF | Episode 3 – The recipe for a perfect brief
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
The essential ingredients for smooth and creative collaboration
Now that we’ve identified the warning signs, let’s take a look at collaborations that work. They share common characteristics that I’ve learned to recognize:
Transparency from the outset
The budget is not a taboo subject. The best clients address this issue head-on, like this startup: “We have €5,000, we want a library of characters that we can use on several projects. How many can you create for us?”
This approach allows for concrete discussions about quantity, the possibility of spreading production over several months or years, and adapting the deliverable to the client’s actual capabilities.
The rights of use are clarified immediately. Is it a global campaign or temporary local use? Does the client want all rights included on a tight budget? It’s best to know this from the outset to avoid misunderstandings and work together on a tailor-made offer.
Precise technical specifications
Effective briefs detail:
- Delivery formats (vector or non-vector, resolutions, variations)
- Media formats (web, print, animation, display)
- Duration and geographical scope of use
- Desired delivery date, possibly with a reverse schedule
The documented creative intent
The German brief (my favorite in this series on how to write a good brief) excelled in this regard with remarkable precision. Beyond the mood board and color palette, I had access to:
A complete technical file:
- All the logos needed for the project
- The color palette in a usable format
- Precise rules of use for each logo to be integrated into the designs
- Reference photos for the posing of the characters
Clear creative guidelines: The keywords were defined: “Stylized realism | Cinematic framing | White space | Soft gradients | Dramatic diagonals.” The style: “vector-based aesthetic with a clean, retro-modern feel.”
This precision was not intended to limit my creativity, but to channel it effectively towards the project’s objective.
AI in the brief: instructions for use
Generative artificial intelligence is not the problem in itself. The problem arises when it replaces strategic thinking instead of structuring it.
AI can excel at:
- Structuring thinking: “Help me create a brief to illustrate our new service offering.”
- Asking the right questions: “What details do I need to specify when briefing a commercial illustrator?”
- Organizing information: synthesizing internal exchanges into a coherent brief.
The idea: use AI as a thinking assistant, not as a generator of visual solutions.
What really makes the difference
Through these various collaborations, I have learned one essential lesson: the best projects are born out of transparency and mutual trust.
An excellent brief outlines all the constraints and leaves the field open beyond that. The more vague and poorly defined the intention, the more mediocre the final work will be. It’s mathematical.
In short, a good brief is like a good recipe: if all the ingredients are listed and the steps are clear, there’s a good chance that the end result will live up to expectations.