By Mehdi HassanWhat goes into a brand design brief?
A brand design brief contains eight things: positioning, audience, competitors, personality, what to keep from the current brand, where the brand must work, constraints, and who decides. A good brief is short, and every answer in it should change something the designer produces.
Most brand brief templates ask for mission, vision and values, then leave the designer to guess how those become a logo. This brand design brief template ties each input to a specific deliverable, so you can see why each question is there. If you're also commissioning a website, pair it with our web design brief template, or use the website redesign RFP template if several agencies will bid.
How does each brief input map to a brand deliverable?
Each brief input feeds a specific part of the identity. Seeing the mapping helps you answer with the right level of detail, and helps you check the final work against what you asked for.
Brief input | Shapes this deliverable | Example of a useful answer |
|---|---|---|
Positioning | Wordmark tone, tagline, voice | Expense software for finance teams who hate chasing receipts |
Audience | Formality, type choice, imagery | Finance leads at 50 to 500 person companies |
Competitors | Color and shape choices to avoid | Three named rivals, all blue with geometric marks |
Personality | Type, color temperature, motion | Calm, precise, slightly dry humor |
Keep or drop | Scope: refresh or redesign | Keep the name and green; drop the icon |
Where it must work | Which screens get designed | Homepage hero, app sidebar, deck cover, favicon |
Constraints | Technical and legal limits | Must work in one color; free web fonts preferred |
Decision-maker | Rounds and schedule | CEO decides; head of product reviews |
The last two inputs are the ones founders skip and designers need most. Constraints prevent beautiful work that can't be used, and naming the decision-maker prevents endless rounds.
The brand design brief template (copy and paste)
Answer each question in one to three sentences. Where you're unsure, say so; a designer can help you decide, but only if they know the question is open.
- Positioning. What do you do, for whom, and instead of what? Complete this sentence: we're the [category] for [audience] who [need], unlike [alternative].
- Audience. Who buys, who uses, and what do they already expect a company like yours to look like?
- Competitors. Name three to five, with links. What do they all have in common visually?
- Personality. Pick three adjectives you are and three you're not. For example: precise, warm, plain-spoken; not playful, not corporate, not techy.
- Current brand. What stays (name, color, icon, font) and what goes? Why?
- Where the brand must work. List the screens and surfaces that matter in the next 12 months.
- Constraints. Single-color use, small sizes, accessibility needs, font licensing, existing product UI.
- References. Two or three brands you admire, with one line on what you admire, and one you'd hate to resemble.
- Decision and timing. Who decides, who reviews, and any launch or fundraise dates.
If you only need a mark, our guide to writing a logo design brief is shorter. If you want to check what a finished identity project should hand over, use the brand identity checklist.
How does a brand brief feed a brand design sprint?
In a brand design sprint, the brief replaces a long discovery phase, so it has to carry the decisions. At Designify, the brief feeds a fixed-scope, fixed-price sprint that delivers a brand refresh or redesign plus 10 website or product explorations, in Figma. Here's how each part of the brief is used.
Positioning becomes words
We start with the words: a one-line description and core messages, written from your positioning and audience answers.
Competitors and personality become directions
We design identity directions that stand apart from your competitors and match the personality you chose, and avoid the one you rejected.
Keep or drop sets the scope
Your answer decides whether we refresh the current brand or redesign it.
Where it must work becomes the 10 explorations
The screens you listed become the website and product explorations, so the identity is tested where customers will see it.
Constraints shape the handover
Single-color versions, small sizes and font choices are checked before files are delivered.
That's why the where must it work question matters so much in our process. It decides what we design, and it's where weak identities get caught. For the full explanation of the format and market prices, read what a brand design sprint is and what it should cost.
What does a filled-in brand design brief look like?
A filled-in brand design brief usually fits on one page. Here's a hypothetical example for an imaginary company to show how specific the answers should be.
Hypothetical example: brand brief for a developer tools startup
Positioning: we're the error monitoring tool for small engineering teams who don't have time to configure dashboards, unlike enterprise tools built for platform teams.
Audience: engineering leads at 5 to 50 person startups who expect developer tools to look clean and technical, not salesy.
Competitors: four named tools; three use purple gradients and abstract geometric marks.
Personality: direct, calm, a little nerdy. Not corporate, not playful, not neon.
Current brand: keep the name; drop the placeholder logo and default blue.
Where it must work: homepage hero, docs header, in-app sidebar at small size, terminal-style screenshots, investor deck cover, favicon.
Constraints: must work in one color in the app; dark mode is the default in-product.
Decision: the two founders decide together; a seed round is planned in about four months.
From that brief, a designer knows to avoid purple gradients, test the mark at favicon size and in dark mode, and design docs and app screens, not just a homepage. That's the difference a specific brief makes.
How much does it cost to act on a brand design brief?
Acting on a brand brief can cost anything from a few hundred dollars for a logo to well over $25,000 for a strategy-led agency identity, based on typical ranges we see quoted. The brief itself changes the price: clear positioning and few decision-makers reduce cost at every tier. Our startup branding cost guide breaks down the tiers, and logo design cost covers the logo-only end.
- Designify brand & design sprint, fixed
- $3,000
- Website or product explorations included
- 10
