This is one of the trickiest questions to answer for anyone trying to break into the design industry. Initially, most people will excitedly go out and try to find new clients, but when that first customer comes along they have no clue how to go about establishing the project requirements and beginning a design. This is where the whole project can quickly turn ugly and even make you reconsider your lifelong dream as a graphic designer.

One of the keys to getting a design project moving in the right direction comes before you sit down to begin work on your computer, and is known in the industry as a design brief. Simply put, a design brief is a list of questions to ask your client to find out what their needs are for any given project.

The more thorough you are in asking your client about what they want, the more specifically they will respond. This prevents you from developing unnecessary design concepts since you will already have a focused description of their needs.

Company Background And Basic Requirements

There are, of course, the basic things to ask about like preferred color scheme, size, quantity, and any other restrictions that  might be present right off the bat. On top of that, it is a good idea to find out as much information about the company or person and what they want to represent.

Questions like the following will help you to better understand where the client is coming from:

• What does your organization do?
• How long have you been in business?
• How many employees do you have?
• What region do you cater to?
• How do you fit in your industry sector compared to other similar companies?

These kinds of questions can give you a lot of ideas for creating a design unique to that specific client. For example, if the company caters only to a certain city or location, you can include something in the design that is familiar to that area, such as a geographic anomaly or a famous landmark. This can give a design immediate recognition, increasing credibility and making a company seem more well established.

The Purpose And Goal Of The Design

Another thing to consider is what the client hopes to accomplish with the design. Do they want to generate sales through their website? Or encourage customer enquiries so they can explain a new service? Other objectives may include gaining newsletter subscribers, obtaining information from visitors, and encouraging referrals.

Obviously if the objective of a website is to sell things, you will want a design that makes it easy for the end user to make a purchase. You can do this by making the shopping cart items readily available for order on the front page and streamlining the checkout process.

If you want to gain newsletter subscribers you may want a sign up button strategically placed on the home page. Usability studies show that phrases such as “Free Updates” work better than the traditional “Sign-Up” text that has been used for years.

Target Audience

Knowing a client’s target audience can also give you a sense of what style is suitable to your design. Ask questions about target age, sex, income, occupation, location, etc.

If you know a client wants to target kids age 12-16 then you may want to use bright colors and wild shapes that would be unsuitable for a design geared towards the elderly.

There are other questions to ask that will reflect the personal taste of a client. Ask them to give you a list of websites that they really like and dislike and why. This will give you an idea of what the stay away from when you are creating your initial concepts and what things might potentially work best.

Help Your Client Help You

The main purpose of a design brief is to gather as much information as possible. The more information you retrieve from your client the easier your job becomes and the better the final outcome will be for both parties involved.

You should always encourage descriptive word use. If a client tells you they want a website design that looks "nice" that is of no help to you. Shouldn't all sites look nice? If they said they want a "modern, high-class, and masculine" website you will begin to picture the direction you want to go in before you even sit down to begin work.

One final thing to remember is to find out what your client's budget and timeline are. There is nothing worse than getting excited over a big potential project only to find out the client wants a complete e-commerce website developed for only $200 because it is "a great portfolio piece and will bring you more business". For this reason you may want to begin your design brief with questions regarding budgets and deadlines.

Final Tips

You should never do work for less than you feel it is worth. People that do design work for less than they deserve not only ruin the industry for other designers, but for themselves as well. It is people like this who will eventually leave the design field because they cannot support themselves financially.

It is always good to collect some kind of deposit before you begin working. An accepted standard is 50% of the total project cost. This will encourage you to stick to a plan and will keep your client from bailing on you on you have begun work. You would be amazed at how many people will work on a design for hours upon hours only to have the client contact them a week later because they changed their mind.

Other Things To Include In A Design Brief

What other important things would you include in a design brief? Let me know in the comments below.

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