What’s an effective project brief when taking on new projects?

[u/xengaa]

I work within a creative studio as a mid-level designer. We have a few clients, and the most recent one was signed with us late last year.

One of the things we do is have the client/ point of contact submit a project intake form. Our other clients do this just fine, but this new one just refuses to do it. They usually do it informally by emailing myself directly for example, or going to our Document Advisor, who also won’t use the form, and just sends us an email with vague details and so much time is wasted going back and forth via email that the timeline to get a proof out gets shorter. The worst part is that this advisor has now got us, the creatives, blocked from reaching out to the clients directly— which makes it even harder to get the specs and have that collaboration between designers and the client.

Anywho, I’ve been thinking of ways to effectively ask the questions that we need answered from the get-go when we get new submissions. I am wondering what your tips or standards are when obtaining new project specs/ summaries/ briefs?

[u/studiotitle]

Companies with systems and processes that arnt followed. Is just a group of people working near each other.

As for the questions to ask.. We can't be helpful without more context like the type/size of work you're doing. Clients are all different, some are regimental and organised.. others are pure unfiltered chaos. Why is your business blocking designers from talking to clients? That seems insane

[u/xengaa → u/studiotitle]

The document advisor who works closely with one of the companies/ clients we work with said that we were “confusing” the clients when asking them questions pertaining to their project brief… but our team feels like they are just bottlenecking. And I think corporate is just letting them do it so that we “make the client happy” cause of the $$$.