What Should a Design Brief Include? (Free Template)

A design brief that actually works isn't long. It's specific. Most briefs fail not because they're too short, but because they're vague in exactly the places where clarity matters most.

Here's the design brief template that consistently gets designers to a strong first draft, with no wasted rounds.

1. Project overview

One or two sentences on what you're building and why. Not your full pitch — just enough that a designer understands the context before they see anything else.

Example: 'Launchpad AI helps freelancers close clients faster using AI-powered proposals and outreach.'

2. Target audience

Who actually uses this. Be specific about role, age range if relevant, and what they're trying to accomplish. 'Everyone' tells a designer nothing.

Example: 'Solo freelancers aged 25–40, primarily designers, developers, and copywriters looking to scale without hiring.'

3. Tone and style

Name real references. 'Clean and modern' means something different to every designer. 'Think Linear meets Notion' doesn't.

Example: 'Clean, minimal, confident. No gradients, no illustrations. Data-focused UI.'

4. Key deliverables

What you actually need designed — a landing page, an onboarding flow, a full app redesign. Be concrete about scope here, not just style.

5. What's out of scope

The most commonly skipped section in any design brief template, and the one that prevents the most cost and timeline overruns. If a designer doesn't know what's excluded, they'll either guess wrong or build more than you needed.

Use this template yourself

Copy the five headers above into a doc and fill in your own answers — that alone will put you ahead of most briefs designers receive. Or skip the blank page entirely: describe your product in one sentence and Briefd generates all five sections for you in under a minute, free, no account required.

For more on getting this right, see our guide on how to write a design brief for a freelance designer.