Sangeeta Jain

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It is a journey…

It is a process…

It is problem-solving.

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*Graphic Design is the art and practice of combining text and graphics and communicating a message effectively through any type of visual communication.

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*A design brief is a written document that summarizes comprehensively and concisely both the business and creative objectives and requirements for a specific project or relationship.

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*The design brief is much more about the business objectives and digs deep into the project and discovers the main factors that will drive the creative strategy.

*Most designers are either given creative briefs by their clients or write them on their own, but they have to be developed collaboratively.

*It should align the client’s business objectives with the designer’s creative strategy.

*Design briefs are best written at the start of the relationship and prior to the development of any design solution.

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*Brief identifies the “what” of the design project and Design is the actual “how” in a project.

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*In 1978, Sony chairman Akio Morita authored a design brief that concisely asked his design team “…to make something that lets me listen to opera recordings on long-distance airplane flights without disturbing passengers around me”.

*Sony engineer Nobutoshi Kihara took up this briefly stated challenge.

*The resulting design: the Walkman.

*From individual designers to most advanced advertising agencies and design houses, everyone strives to get a comprehensively written design brief.

*A comprehensive, detailed brief eliminates ambiguities in the design process. It becomes the guiding document in the process and detects exactly what the designer needs to do and the constraints within which it has to be done.

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*It explains the client’s requirements for the project

*It is a framework/foundation for the designers

*It contains a well-identified and articulated summary of the key factors can impact a project

*It focuses on the outcomes of the design and the business objectives of the design project

*It serves as an essential point of reference for both the client and the designer

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*It does NOT deal with the aesthetics of design.

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Basic Components of

the Design Brief…

Client is the entity, individual or organisation assigning and funding the project, directly or indirectly.

This section of the design brief consists of a summary of the client. Within the client, there are likely to be a number other key individuals. It also includes information about the brand, product or service, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats involved with it or if there are there existing advertisements or data to help understand the current positioning of the client, brand, product or service.

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This is you!A graphic designer is a professional who creates an effective and functional design to convey a message effectively and attractively. Graphic designers solve visual communication problems with images and text. The key goal of graphic designers is to convey a message that motivates the viewer to take an action. This section of the design brief consists of a short introduction of the designer or the design house.

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A target audience is the intended group of consumers for a particular advertisement design.

This section of the design brief consists of the demographics of the group such as the age, gender, education, income, location, lifestyle, purchasing characteristics etc. It may also identify the primary as well as the secondary target audience and what do they think of the client (brand) or product or service.

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Competitors is defined as a company in the same or similar industry which offers a similar product or service.

This section of the design brief identifies the current and also the future competitors. The reason why they are or could be a threat to the client and what are their strengths and weaknesses? How is the client (brand) and product or service different from them? The competitive analysis is a crucial part of any design project.

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A problem statement is a clear concise description of the issue(s) that need(s) to be addressed.

An integral part of the process of design is the identification and definition of a meaningful and actionable problem statement which the designer will focus on solving. It is the most challenging part of a design project which requires a synthesis all observations and data gathered. The problem statement brings clarity and guides the ideation process in the right direction.

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A unique selling proposition (USP) is the factor that differentiates a product from its competitors.

The USP assures a clearly articulated benefit to consumers, offers them something that competitive products can’t or don’t offer and is compelling enough to attract new customers. In order to determine a USP for any given brand one must undertake extensive research of the client, competitors as well as consumers.

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Advertising Budget is the amount of money to be spent on advertising of the product/service to promote it.

In the design brief it shows the plan of allocation of money to various advertising activities by determining the type of strategy, media and amount of exposure, frequency of the advertisement including the cost of various elements of advertising such as designing, printing, distribution, materials, resources etc.

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A timeline is a chronology of the advertising plan over time.

Timeline is the proposed schedule of the entire advertising campaign. It is useful to draft an initial time plan and provide it to everyone involved in the process. It is the schedule for the action plan and also includes communications and sales support. In the design brief it identifies all the key dates and builds a schedule based on the milestones and deadlines that need to be met. Creating the overall strategy is the most important step in the process and needs to be done first.

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Established codes are a set of non-legislatively required commitments which one or more individuals or organizations agree to.

They are designed to influence, shape, control or benchmark behaviour. A code may consist of a general statement of principles and obligations as well as technical agreements pertaining to specific operational aspects such as reporting requirements and dispute-resolution powers etc.

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It is a list/description/details of…* The assets that the client will provide to the designer.

* The entities that the designer will need to hire or buy.

*Any technical support that may be required.

*Any legal consultancy that may be essential.

*Any agreements that may need to be signed. Etc…

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Deliverables is a term for the goods or services that will be provided upon the completion of a project.

Deliverables can be tangible or intangible and they are often specified functions or characteristics of the project. In other words it is what the designer promises to deliver to the client to achieve the goal and in what format.

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Ethics and legal constrains are principles which govern the ways of communication taking place between the seller and the buyer.

Ethics in advertising is directly related to the purpose of advertising and the nature of advertising. Having a list of ethical and legal issues when creating advertisements help to craft legal, responsible ad messages. The basic legal standard for advertising is that all advertising should be legal, decent, honest and truthful.

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*PART 1: Create infographics/symbols to visually represent the components of the design brief as discussed above. Along with the final graphics also submit a concept note to justify the design decisions made.

*PART 2: Use these infographics to create a design brief format for the purpose of self-branding and as a template for further design projects.

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*Submit the assessment task in a PDF format.

*Due Date: End of Week 3

*Weight: 30%

*Important Note: The assessment task will be

submitted in a PDF format but students must

save their raw files for further use.