How to write a design brief

Tips from Peter L Philips

'Dear Architect' a brief from Walker Technology College in Newcastle

Design briefs are an essential part of the design process. In fact, they mark the beginning of the design process, helping designers understand the business problem they are required to solve and businesses clarify what they need from a design project. Altogether they are vital to achieving an effective design solution says Peter L Phillips

‘A lot of clients say to me, "We don’t have time to do a brief.  How long does the brief take?" And my answer is simply, it saves double the time that you spend on doing it’, says Peter L Phillips who’s spent 30 years as a corporate design director learning the business benefits of writing a design brief.

In this guide to design briefs he shares what he's learnt about:

  • What a design brief actually is
  • What should be in a design brief
  • Who should be involved in writing it
  • Making design briefs effective, business focused, problem solving tools
  • How businesses or design teams use briefs to understand and overcome challenges
  • The lingo used about design briefs 
Video content
Peter Phillips has made three short films in which he answers some frequently asked questions about design briefs, talks about a small company that made the design briefing process make business sense and then analyses a brief written by school students for the architects who’d be building their new school

Are you an SME who wants to know why you should think about writing a design brief?

Watch a video of Peter Phillips talking about a small company that benefitted from writing a design brief

Do you want to know what you should include in a design brief?

Read ten tips from Peter Phillips on what should be in a design brief and how to get the most out of time you spend

Are you a designer?  Do you want to convince new clients of the value of collaborating on a design brief?

Watch this video of Peter Phillips answering frequently asked questions. One’s about why collaboration works

About the author

Peter L Phillips has 30 years experience as a corporate design director, a consultant and author in corporate design strategy and teaches for the Design Management Institute's Professional Development Program.

Phillips is the author of “Creating the Perfect Design Brief: How to Manage Design for Strategic Advantage" and he is also an adjunct Professor at Suffolk University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, for the Suffolk EMBA in Innovation and Design.