I learnt this the hard way. As a young, naive marketeer, fresh out of the world of football and reliant on self-learning, I would have a handful of trusted freelance design contacts I'd lean on when I needed any design work delivering. Naturally, I'd reach out at the point where I wanted to see designs. I wanted to know what they'd look like. It's only since sitting on this side of the fence that I understand how to get the best outcomes, and how I'd now brief myself, if I was doing it again.

The best businesses we work with who get the best creative outcomes are the ones that do the hard thinking before they commission us. Here's what that looks like in practice.

Get clear on who you're actually designing for.

Not "everyone" - that's not a customer. A real person. What do they do for a living? Where do they live? What are they looking for when they search for a business like yours? What makes them choose one option over another? What would make them trust you immediately?

The more specific your answer, the better the creative work will be. A logo designed for a 45-year-old restaurant owner in Cheshire looks different to one designed for a 28-year-old fitness professional in London. Both are valid. But they require different creative decisions.

Know what you want people to feel.

Not just what you want them to think — what you want them to feel. Trusted. Excited. Reassured. Premium. Approachable. The feeling is the brief. Everything else flows from it.

Audit what you already have.

Before you commission new creative work, look honestly at what you already have. What's working? What isn't? What do customers respond to? What do you personally like and hate about your current brand? Coming into a briefing with this information saves time and produces better work.

Look at references — but explain why.

Pulling examples of brands, websites or campaigns you like is genuinely useful. But "I like this" is less useful than "I like this because it feels premium without being intimidating" or "I like this because the photography is warm rather than corporate." The why is the useful part.

Agree on what success looks like.

A rebrand isn't successful because it looks nice. It's successful because it does something. More enquiries. Stronger trust with a specific customer type. Better conversion on the website. Agree on what you're trying to achieve before you start and you'll have something to measure against when you finish.

None of this takes weeks. A good pre-brief conversation takes an hour. But it's the hour that determines whether the creative work that follows is good or great.

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