When I get hired by a client to make a visual communication — whether it’s an illustration, or a visual facilitation of a conference — I like to have a clear brief.
It’s important both for me AND my client to be able to measure my picture somehow.
And it’s realllllllly important that “aesthetics” isn’t one of the measureables. (I have to presume that a client has looked at my portfolio, and has hired me because they’re happy with the aesthetics. It’s a given. It’s not a measureable.)
The measureables HAVE TO BE business objectives. If a client is to see a Return On Investment in my services, the picture I create can’t just be a pretty piece of art. It HAS TO BE something that actually makes the client’s business improve somehow.
So in my briefing sessions, I ask four questions. In the past, I’ve sometimes asked these questions obliquely. Sometimes straight out. Now, I’m formalising the process, so that this worksheet will become part of my standard operating practice.
The four questions come from my background in the advertising world.
They are:
1. What is the OFFER? (In other words, what is my client offering to the recipient of the message? What is this communication FOR?)
2. What PROVES the offer? (In other words, what evidence do you as my client have that this offer is beneficial to the recipient? This is not about doubting my client. It’s about information that can be embedded into the communication I’m going to create that will persuade the recipient that the offer is an excellent and actionable one.)
3. Who is the TARGET? (In other words, who am I trying to reach with the communication I’m creating? There may be MULTIPLE targets. And that means there MUST BE multiple communications. What communicates to one target doesn’t necessarily communicate to a different target. For instance, when a company is trying to talk to shareholders, AND general members of the public, that would require two communications.)
4. What is the TAKEOUT? (This is the “programming” side of communication design. It has two aspects… EMOTION and ACTION. When people look at my picture, I want them to feel a positive emotion. And I want them to want to take action. This is where I earn my fee. This is where my work creates Return On Investment for my clients.)
Here, I’ve filled in my briefing worksheet with a fictitious example of a company that’s redeveloped the backend of their website.
They want to communicate to their tech-savvy shareholders that the backend is now in place, and that they can log into the website to update their details.
I’ve created the sample answers simply because the worksheet on its own isn’t all that easy to understand. This is fairly complex communication taking place.
Normally, this worksheet is filled in during a meeting I have with my clients.
If you look at the sample answers, and imagine me drawing a picture that conveys the information contained in the briefing worksheet, you’ll understand how easy it would be to evaluate whether or not my picture does the job.
This is a tool to give both my client and me an objective measurement of the picture I end up creating.
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I’m available to do high level visual facilitation for you. Give me a call on +27 74 104 6386, or email me at roy@royblumenthal.com, and we can chat about what you need.
