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Graphic Design vocabulary · Briefs, Clients & Feedback

Design brief

Meaning in graphic design, with examples

/dɪˈzaɪn ˌbriːf/nounCore term

In graphic design, design brief means: A short document that explains what a design project must achieve: the goal, audience, message, deliverables, budget, deadline and any rules the designer must follow.

In Turkish: tasarım brifi, brif

How it is used

The starting point of almost every project. A client or account manager writes, sends or presents a brief; the designer reads, questions and responds to it. People usually just say the brief.

Example sentences

  1. The design brief says the audience is students, but the examples they sent are very corporate.

  2. Before we start sketching, let's go through the design brief and list our questions for the client.

Common collocations

  • write a brief
  • creative brief
  • go through the brief
  • stick to the brief
  • off-brief
  • deliverablesThe specific files and items a designer has agreed to hand over at the end of a project, such as logo files, a print-ready PDF or a set of social media posts.
  • conceptThe main idea behind a design and one early version of it shown to the client, explaining how the design answers the brief.
  • moodboardA collection of images, colours, textures and type samples put together at the start of a project to show the visual direction and feeling of the design.
  • scope creepThe slow growth of a project beyond what was originally agreed, as the client keeps adding small requests, without extra time or budget.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Briefs, Clients & Feedback

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