A good brief is the quickest way to get a design you love. Most designs that come back wrong were not badly designed. They were badly briefed. The designer filled the gaps with guesses, and the guesses missed. Whether you want a new logo, a t-shirt graphic or an embroidery file, this guide shows you what to include so the first proof is close to right.
Start with what the design is for
Before style, colours or fonts, tell the designer where the design will live. This changes everything about how it should be made.
- Printed on apparel? Say which garments and colours, and roughly how big.
- Embroidered? The design needs bolder shapes, fewer colours and no tiny text.
- Used as a business logo? It has to work small on a website and large on signage.
- A one-off event? Include the date, name and anything else that must appear.
One sentence is enough. For example: "A logo for my mobile coffee cart, used on the van, cups, tees and Instagram."
What to include in your brief
You do not need a formal document. A short message covering these points does the job:
- Name and exact wording. Spell it exactly as it should appear, including capitals and punctuation.
- About you. A line on what your business, team or event does and who it is for.
- The feel. Three or four words, like "bold, friendly, local" or "clean, modern, premium".
- Colours. Colours you want, colours you do not, and the garment colours it will sit on.
- Examples you like. Screenshots of logos or designs you like, and a line on what you like about each.
- Things to avoid. Styles, symbols or colours you already know you do not want.
- Where it will be used. Apparel, caps, embroidery, signage, web, social media.
- Files you need. For example a transparent PNG for printing and a vector file for everything else.
Use references and send what you have
Words like "modern" or "clean" mean different things to different people. Pictures remove the guesswork. Collect two to five examples of designs you like. They do not have to be in your industry. A craft beer label might capture the exact feel you want for a fishing charter.
Be specific about what you like in each one. "I like the thick outline on this one" or "I like how simple this icon is" is far more useful than just a screenshot. And do not ask a designer to copy someone else's logo. Use references for direction, not as a template.
If you are struggling to picture anything, try generating a few rough ideas with the free and send the ones that feel closest. They make great reference material even if they are not the final design.
You do not need polished artwork to start, either. A phone photo of a napkin sketch, a screenshot, or an old low resolution logo all give the designer something to work from. If you are redrawing an existing logo, send the largest version you can find, and mention any parts that must stay the same.
Briefing for print and embroidery files
If the job is preparing an existing design for production rather than creating a new one, the brief is simpler but more technical:
- For print: ask for a transparent 300 DPI PNG at or above your print size, plus a vector file (SVG or PDF) where possible. Our guide to vectorising a logo explains why vector matters.
- For embroidery: give the finished size, for example 9cm wide on a left chest, the garment or cap type, and the thread colours. Ask which machine formats you need, such as DST or PES.
How the Mocked Up design service works
The Mocked Up design service is set up around this kind of brief. You can send anything: a sketch photo, a screenshot, an old logo or just a description.
| Job | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Print-ready logo or artwork file | $25 | Transparent 300 DPI PNG, plus SVG or PDF vector where possible |
| Embroidery digitising | From $30 | EMB, DST, PES and EXP files, thread chart and stitch count |
| Custom or complex artwork | Quoted, most jobs $50 to $120 | New artwork built from your brief |
Payment is upfront. The first proof arrives within 2 business days and changes are usually made the same day. Two rounds of changes are included, which is where a clear brief pays off. You own the finished design 100%.
When you give feedback on a proof, be as specific as you were in the brief. "Make the text bigger and change the blue to navy" gets a better second round than "it is not quite right".
Ready to brief us?
Start a logo design or send your file for embroidery digitising, and include the points above in your message.