How to Brief a Visual Content Project
What to include in a brief so the first draft is close to what you actually need — for stills or an interactive presentation.
Every project I take on runs the same way: a brief, an agreed draft or sample, feedback, then delivery. Almost all of the back-and-forth in that process comes from a thin first brief, not from a difficult product. A better brief doesn’t take much longer to write, and it changes how close the first draft lands.
The essentials
- What it is. The product, vehicle or property, as specifically as possible — model, variant, color, or listing address. If it’s one of several similar items, say which ones are actually in scope.
- What you already have. Physical access to it for a shoot, existing photos or footage, a spec sheet, a CAD file, or nothing yet. This alone often decides mockup vs. real photography — see that guide if you’re not sure which applies.
- Where it’s going. A store listing, a rental fleet page, a social ad, a sales one-pager. The destination changes the right aspect ratio, length and level of polish more than almost anything else.
- The goal of the material, in one sentence. “Show the interior storage space,” “make the color variants easy to compare,” “give a rental customer a fast, honest sense of condition” — a concrete goal is easier to hit than “make it look professional.”
- Quantity. How many products or SKUs. This is the main input to both timing and pricing, and neither is fixed in advance — the size of the brief is what makes an estimate real instead of generic.
- Format constraints, if any. A required aspect ratio, a maximum file size, a platform’s technical spec. If you don’t have one yet, say so — it’s fine to work that out together.
What I don’t need up front
A finished creative direction, a shot list, or brand guidelines aren’t required to start a conversation — an agreed draft or sample is exactly the step where direction gets set before full production. Bringing reference images you like (or don’t) is more useful at that stage than a fully pre-written spec.
What happens after you send it
A brief covering the points above is usually enough for me to scope the project and reply with next steps — within one business day. From there: an agreed draft or sample, a round of feedback, then delivery.
Ready to send one? Start a project.