> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://folio.ghost-themes.apps.codememory.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # What a good brief looks like - URL: https://folio.ghost-themes.apps.codememory.com/what-a-good-brief-looks-like/ - Published: 2026-06-21T09:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-06-21T09:00:00.000Z - Description: Describe the problem, not the solution. The five questions every brief should answer, and why budgets are not secret. - Author: Aiko Tanaka - Tags: Journal, #Import 2026-09-30 05:40 Every project begins with a brief: a document, a conversation or sometimes just an email explaining what a client needs. Over the years, we have read hundreds of them. Some were a single sentence. Some were fifty pages long. The best ones had very little to do with length. This is what we have learned about what makes a brief good, for clients and for designers. ## A brief describes a problem, not a solution The most common mistake in a brief is describing the answer instead of the question. *We need a new logo* is a solution. *People do not recognise our ferries as one service* is a problem. The second one is much more useful, because it leaves room for the best answer, which might not be a logo at all. When a brief arrives with a solution already chosen, we always ask: *why?* Why a new logo? Why a new website? The answers to that question are usually the real brief. > Tell us what is wrong, not what to make. That is our job. > > **Aiko Tanaka** ## The five questions every brief should answer After many years, we have boiled a good brief down to five questions. 1. **What is the problem?** In plain words, what is not working today? 2. **Who is it for?** Not "everyone". Who are the specific people whose experience should change? 3. **What does success look like?** How will we know, a year from now, whether the project worked? 4. **What are the limits?** Budget, deadline, things that cannot change and people who must approve. 5. **What have you tried before?** Past attempts, even failed ones, tell us a lot. A brief that answers these five questions clearly is better than most fifty-page documents. ![](https://folio.ghost-themes.apps.codememory.com/content/images/2026/09/brief-post-its-1.jpg) ![](https://folio.ghost-themes.apps.codememory.com/content/images/2026/09/brief-board-1.jpg) ![](https://folio.ghost-themes.apps.codememory.com/content/images/2026/09/brief-coffee-1.jpg) Sticky notes, a whiteboard and coffee: the three tools of every briefing session. ## Budgets are not secret Many clients are reluctant to share their budget. They worry that the studio will simply spend all of it. We understand the worry, but a brief without a budget is like asking an architect to design a house without saying how big. The budget does not just decide the price. It decides the *approach*. With a small budget, we might suggest improving what already exists. With a larger one, we might suggest starting fresh. Without knowing, we have to guess, and guessing wastes everyone's time. 💬 If you really cannot share a budget, share a range. "Between ten and twenty thousand" is far more useful than nothing, and it will not stop anyone from proposing a sensible price. ## Talk, then write The best briefs we receive are not written first. They start with a conversation. We meet the client, ask lots of questions and listen. Then *we* write the brief down and send it back to them to check. This has two benefits: the client does not have to struggle with writing a document, and we can be sure we have understood. Our written briefs are rarely more than two pages. They use plain words, no jargon, and end with a short list of things we agreed not to do. That last list is surprisingly important. It prevents a lot of arguments later. ![Most of our briefs start as a conversation over coffee.](https://folio.ghost-themes.apps.codememory.com/content/images/2026/09/brief-talk-1.jpg) Most of our briefs start as a conversation over coffee. ## Briefs change, and that is fine A brief is a starting point, not a contract. During research, we often discover something that changes the problem. On the ferry project, we learned that people read the colour of the boat, not the timetable. That changed everything. A good client understands this and is happy to update the brief when the evidence says so. What matters is that any change is discussed openly and written down. A brief that silently drifts is how projects go over time and over budget. ## A brief for a small project Not every project needs a formal brief. For a small job, such as a poster or a simple book cover, we use a single card with five lines: what it is, who it is for, where it will be seen, when it is due and what the budget is. It takes five minutes to fill in, and it has prevented more misunderstandings than any contract. ### What designers owe the brief A brief is not only the client's responsibility. Designers need to read it properly, ask questions early and push back when something is unclear. When a brief seems wrong, the worst thing a designer can do is follow it silently and hope for the best. The best thing is to say, politely and early, *we think the real problem might be something else*, and explain why. Good clients welcome that conversation. ## A brief is the start of trust In the end, a good brief is about trust. The client trusts us with an honest description of their problem, including the parts that are embarrassing. We trust the client to tell us what they really need, not what they think designers want to hear. When that trust exists from the first page, the rest of the project is almost always easier. If you are about to write a brief for a design studio, keep it short, describe the problem and share your budget. And if you would like to talk it through first, our door is always open.