Step 2: Define

Now that you’ve collected the answers to your questions from the first step, it’s time to review the information you’ve gathered.

Essentially, you’re going to go through the information and identify parts that stand out to you in order ‘define’ the scope and restrictions of the brief.

Having restrictions in the brief might sound like it will restrict your creativity, but it will actually encourage your mind to think at full capacity and create better design solutions.

There are three stages to this step; find keywords, clarify anything that’s unclear, and confirm the brief.

Find keywords

Go through your answers and find all the keywords you can spot, and take note of any themes starting to emerge.

They’re usually descriptive words, and they often pop up multiple times. These could be words like ‘friendly’ or ‘corporate’ or ‘hand-made’.

Isolating these words will help you to start to form the directions that are possible for your logo concepts.

Clarify anything that’s unclear

Now go through your answers again and look for anything that’s unclear. Do this now to save lots of back and forth with your client down the track.

Never assume you know what your client means. If your client says they like cold colours, ask them for examples of cold colours they specifically like. Words like warm and cold are subjective, and may people see them differently. For instance, dark green could be considered a warm colour to some, while to others it’s seen as moody and cold.

Don’t be afraid to go back to your client for clarity after you’ve received their answers. It’s not unprofessional – in fact it shows that you’re being thorough and showing attention to detail.

Confirm the brief

When you feel like you have enough information and everything is clear, type out the brief in a few sentences, including the keywords you’ve identified. Send it to your client, asking them to confirm you’re on the right track.

Email is best for this, so you have their reply in writing to refer back to if needed.

This may seem like unnecessary admin, but it’s helpful in developing good communication between you and your client. It also allows an opportunity for your client to add anything they may have thought of after the fact.