The brand brief: what it must contain, with a template and a worked example

What a brief is, and what it is not

The brief says what the identity has to do, for whom and under what conditions. It does not say what it should look like. “A logo with a green leaf” is a solution (probably the wrong one); “a plant shop for small flats, for people who kill cacti” is a brief, from which the leaf may or may not emerge.

The nine questions

1. 01What you do, in one sentence. The product or service, without adjectives. “We roast speciality coffee and serve it to go.”
2. 02Who you are for, as a situation. Not “adults 25–45” but “people who pass by in the morning on the way to the office, with five minutes to spare”.
3. 03What you promise every time. One thing you can keep. “The coffee is ready in three minutes, just as good every time.”
4. 04Who the customer compares you with. Three real names, with what each lacks. Not “we have no competitors”.
5. 05How you differ. One thing, true, verifiable.
6. 06How you want to sound. Three adjectives, each with a “but not”: “warm but not sugary; direct but not cold; expert but not snobbish”.
7. 07What already exists. A name (checked?), colours from the shopfront, an old logo, materials that stay.
8. 08Where the identity will live. Sign, cup, Instagram, website, packaging, uniform. The real list, in order of importance.
9. 09What you do not want. The category's cliches, the competitors' colours, anything you have seen and disliked, with the reason.

The template

• Name (and whether it is checked at the company register and the trademark office):
• What we do:
• Who for (the situation):
• The promise:
• Competitors (three) and what they lack:
• The differentiator:
• Tone (three adjectives with “but not”):
• What already exists:
• Where it will live (materials, in order):
• What we do not want, with the reason:
• Budget and deadline:

Worked example: a coffee shop

Name: Meridian Coffee (checked, free). What we do: we roast speciality coffee weekly and serve it to go and at the bar. Who for: people who work in the centre and pass by in the morning, with five minutes to spare, who want a good coffee without a ritual. The promise: ready in three minutes, just as good every time. Competitors: two chains (fast, but mediocre coffee) and one speciality cafe (excellent, but slow and precious). Differentiator: the only ones doing speciality at the speed of a chain. Tone: warm but not sugary; direct but not cold; expert but not snobbish. Already exists: nothing. Where it will live: the takeaway cup, the sign, Instagram, the bag of beans, the website. We do not want: beans and cups in the logo, brown everywhere, “artisanal” handwriting. Budget: €600. Deadline: three weeks.

This brief is exactly the kind of input the RHAM engine derives the strategy, palette, type and logo from; it is also one of the templates you can start with.

What does not belong in a brief

• Visual solutions (“I want a blue circle”). Describe the problem; the solution is the job of whoever is doing the work.
• “Modern, clean, minimalist.” Everyone wants that; it rules nothing out.
• Ten contradictory references. Two or three, with what exactly you like in each.
• The audience “everyone”. A brand for everyone is a brand for no one.
• No budget. A designer with no budget proposes either too little or too much.

How it is used

With a designer or an agency, the brief is the first document you send, before the quote, and it is the basis of feedback: “it does not respect the tone in the brief” is an argument; “I don't like it” is not. With a generator, the brief is the input itself: a tool that works from positioning (not from a gallery of shapes) produces something different for every answer above. How to choose between the three is in designer, agency or AI.