What to hand a designer so the brief comes back right

You've found a designer whose portfolio speaks to you. You've had the conversation. Now comes the moment that makes or breaks the project: handing over enough information that they actually understand what you need.

Many briefs go sideways not because the designer is weak, but because they're working from guesswork. A vague description of what you want—"something bold" or "like that thing we saw"—leaves them filling in blanks with their own assumptions. By the time you see the first draft, the disconnect is real. The solution isn't a longer brief; it's a smarter one.

Start with what already exists

If your business has been running for a while, you almost certainly have visual material already in the wild: old brochures, social media posts, email headers, invoice templates, your website. Pull together samples of everything, even the pieces you dislike. A designer needs to see what's currently representing you. That's not so they can copy it, but so they understand the visual language you've inherited and what you want to shift.

If you're brand new with nothing to show, that's fine too—just say so. But if you have any competitor work you admire, or design from entirely different industries that feels right to you, gather those. Screenshot them, save the links, note what draws you (the colour, the layout style, the tone of the words alongside the images). Be honest: if you like something because it feels premium, or playful, or trustworthy, say that.

Your words matter as much as your pictures

Designers often ask for a copy deck or text framework before they start sketching. This isn't bureaucracy. They need to know roughly how much text lives alongside the image, what the hierarchy of messages is, and what tone the words strike. A designer choosing typography and spacing for a one-line tagline works very differently from one fitting a paragraph of explanation.

Gather your actual copy—headlines, body text, disclaimers, calls to action—or at minimum give them a rough script. If the piece is marketing collateral (a flyer, brochure, email template), share the messages you must include and the ones that are nice-to-haves. Tell them if your audience is formal or casual. Are you speaking to accountants, young families, or hospitality businesses? The visual language shifts accordingly.

The practical details that prevent rework

Good designers ask early for the constraints that shape the work. Be ready with specifics:

• Where will this live or be printed? (Social media story, A4 flyer, postcard, billboard, email header.) Size and format matter enormously.
• Are there technical limits? (Your email platform only accepts certain file types; your printer can't handle the finish you're imagining.)
• What logo files do you have? (Designer-supplied vector files beat a screenshot from your website.)
• Any fixed elements? (Your business registration number, a mandatory disclaimer, a partner's logo, corporate colours you cannot shift.)
• Budget and timeline. Be realistic. Tight deadlines and small budgets change what's possible.

How a designer uses what you give them

When you hand over this material—old work, text, mood boards, practical constraints—a good designer doesn't just file it away. They'll likely ask follow-up questions to stress-test their understanding. They might ask why you chose a particular competitor's work, or what "premium" means for your specific market, or whether a long text block is genuinely non-negotiable. These questions are the sign they're building a brief inside their head, not just executing instructions.

You've also now set yourself up to give useful feedback later. Instead of "I don't like it," you can say "this feels too casual for our audience" or "the text is getting lost." You and your designer are then speaking the same language.

Before you hand over your brand to a designer, spend an afternoon gathering what you have and writing down the practical facts of the job. The clearer the picture you paint, the more your designer can focus on the craft instead of the guessing game. When you're ready to get started, find a designer on Strove who walks you through their onboarding process—that's a signal they take the brief seriously.