The clue is in the name: brief. In my experience, handing over a statement of work and a long email thread between client and agency to the studio is not sufficient. We’re currently reviewing our briefing process, to distill these client-facing documents into something that enables the creative juices of our thinkers to start flowing.

A brief should clearly and succinctly describe the task in hand and how success will be judged, acting as a spring board for the creative process to begin.

Your article describes the kind of document we’re about to trial, which will be limited to a sheet of A4* and act as a contract between the client, client services team and our design studio. Most importantly, it should be a living document which changes to reflect the status of the project and current thinking.

My question is, who ultimately writes and owns this briefing document?

*12pt Helvetica, +3pt linespacing. I’ve falled foul of project owners trying to set briefs in 6pt and claim their submission is within tolerances…