Chapter 03
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Creating the Perfect Design Brief
The Last Three Phases As previously stated, the phases are largely determined by the specific project and also by the type of design involved. For example, a product design (industrial design) project might involve a variety of engineering elements and model building that would not be part of a project to design a print piece, such as a brochure. Therefore, the industrial design project will probably have additional phases not found in a design brief for a print project. But I strongly recommend that all design projects, no matter what the specifics, include the following three final phases: 1) final approval of project, 2) implementation, and 3) measurement metrics. Clearly, every project will have to face a final approval phase. The brief should include details about this phase. When will the approval meeting occur? Who will ultimately have final approval authority? Who will make the approval presentation? What is the budget for creating the approval presentation? Many times people forget that creating a presentation for approval has some costs related to it. This must be included in the overall project budget. These presentations also take considerable time just to create. The issue about who will make the presentation can be a sticky one! From my point of view, it should always be the co-owners—the partners who have accepted accountability for the results of the project. However, I am aware that this is not always the case. There are situations where someone else who is not directly involved throughout the process ends up taking the solution and presenting it to the final approver. Although I disapprove of this practice, it is used in the real world! In these cases, the best you can do is to create a bulletproof presentation for approval, make that presentation to the person who will be taking it forward on your behalf, and hope that he or she will use your materials effectively. If your approval presentation is really compelling and complete, two things might occur. One, you will be asked to at least attend the presentation as an observer, or two, you might even be asked to present anyway. No matter what your situation, be sure to describe the approval process in the design brief. I will focus more on creating presentations for approval in chapter 8.