How to get a design brief from your client
For years, I’ve struggled with clients who have no idea what they are looking for when they come up with a branding project, but the moment I start working on it, their ideas starting storming in, resulting in multiple rounds of changes that take up too much time. To solve this issue, I came up with a questionnaire for them to fill out before I start any project that has a vague brief. These questions help me narrow down the scope of work and at the same time give me a design direction.
Following are the questions I use for a branding project, you can play around with them depending on your requirements:
01. What are the 5 attributes that you associate with your brand?
Reason: This helps me understand the tone of voice of the brand. Whether it is formal or informal, or a mix of both. It basically helps me understand how the brand communicates with their audience.
02. What colours do you associate with your brand? (Colours you prefer in your logo)
Reason: Coming up with a colour palette is one of the basic requirements of any branding project, but quite often it is based on the preference of the client rather than a design theory, so I find it best to get their choices in first.
03. 5 logos that you love and why? (Based on the design and not the products)
Reason: In order to understand the taste of your client, it is always beneficial to know about their favourite brands/designs. Get into the head of your client to get out of the project sooner.
04. Social media profiles you love and why? (Based on the design and overall management)
Reason: Again, to understand the taste of your client, whether they like minimal social media designs, or completely manipulated images. This will also help you understand what kind of work they are expecting out of you.
05. Your estimated budget and timeline for the project?
Reason: It is very common to get clients that want a logo within 10 minutes in exchange for “exposure,” and you definitely do not want to work with such a client.
Hope this helps :)
