Design brief template for freelance designers

A design brief is a one- or two-page summary of a project that you and your client agree on before any design work starts. This template gives you the sections to include and the questions that fill each one. It works for brand identity, website, packaging and most other graphic design projects, and it doubles as a creative brief or a project brief.

Copy the outline below into your own document, or use it as a checklist for your discovery call.

How to use this template

1. Hold a short discovery call and take notes against the questions in each section.
2. Write the brief yourself, in plain language, the same day.
3. Send it to the client and ask them to correct anything that's wrong.
4. Once they confirm it, use the brief to write your proposal.

Writing the brief yourself, rather than sending the client a blank form, gets you clearer answers and a document in a structure you can design against. Our guide on how to write a design project brief explains each step in more detail.

The design brief template

1. Project overview

Two or three sentences: what is being made, for whom, and why now.

• What is the project?
• What prompted it now? A launch, a rebrand, a problem with the current design?
• Is there a fixed date, such as a launch or an event?

2. Goals

What should be different when the project is done? Write goals you could check later.

• What should this design help the business or its users do?
• How will the client judge whether it worked?
• What matters most if there's a trade-off?

3. Target audience

• Who is the main audience? Describe them in one sentence.
• What do they need to understand, feel or do?
• Is there a secondary audience that also matters?

4. Scope and deliverables

List what the client will receive, not the work you'll do.

• Which deliverables are included? For example: logo suite, brand guidelines, homepage design for desktop and mobile.
• Which formats and sizes are needed?
• What is explicitly out of scope?

5. Timeline

6. References and inspiration

• Which existing designs does the client like, and what exactly do they like about each?
• Which designs do they dislike, and why?
• Who are the main competitors, and how should this project differ from them?

7. Constraints

• Brand elements that can't change (logo, colours, typefaces).
• Technical limits, such as the website platform or print specifications.
• Content: who supplies the copy and images, and when?
• Budget range, if it affects the scope.

8. Success criteria

• What has to be true for the client to sign off?
• How many revision rounds are included?

9. Approvals and contacts

• Who is the day-to-day contact?
• Who gives final approval? Will they see the work before the final round?

10. Open questions

List anything still unanswered, with who will answer it and by when.

Questions to ask in the discovery call

If you only have time for a few questions, ask these. They uncover most of the information the brief needs.

• "What made you start this project now?"
• "If this goes well, what changes for you in six months?"
• "Who will look at this work, and what should they do next?"
• "Which designs do you admire, and what exactly do you like about them?"
• "What can't change?"
• "Who else needs to approve the work?"

For brand identity projects, add questions about the company's values, personality and positioning. These are often sent as a separate branding questionnaire before the call.

Common mistakes

• Vague goals. "Modern and clean" describes a style, not a goal. Ask what the design needs to achieve.
• Scope written as activities. "Design work" can mean anything. List deliverables.
• No approver named. A senior stakeholder who appears in the last round can undo weeks of work.
• References without reasons. A link alone doesn't say whether the client likes the layout, the colours or the photography.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a design brief and a creative brief?

The terms overlap. A creative brief usually focuses on the message and audience of a campaign, while a design brief also covers deliverables, timeline and constraints. The template above covers both.

Who should write the design brief, the client or the designer?

Either can, but freelance designers often get better results by writing it themselves after a discovery call and asking the client to confirm it.

How long should a design brief be?

Usually one or two pages. Each section can be a few lines; what matters is that no section is missing.