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What Is Creative Writing? (Ultimate Guide + 20 Examples)

Creative writing begins with a blank page and the courage to fill it with the stories only you can tell.

I face this intimidating blank page daily–and I have for the better part of 20+ years.

In this guide, you’ll learn all the ins and outs of creative writing with tons of examples.

What Is Creative Writing (Long Description)?

Creative Writing is the art of using words to express ideas and emotions in imaginative ways. It encompasses various forms including novels, poetry, and plays, focusing on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary tropes.

Table of Contents

Let’s expand on that definition a bit.

Creative writing is an art form that transcends traditional literature boundaries.

It includes professional, journalistic, academic, and technical writing. This type of writing emphasizes narrative craft, character development, and literary tropes. It also explores poetry and poetics traditions.

In essence, creative writing lets you express ideas and emotions uniquely and imaginatively.

It’s about the freedom to invent worlds, characters, and stories. These creations evoke a spectrum of emotions in readers.

Creative writing covers fiction, poetry, and everything in between.

It allows writers to express inner thoughts and feelings. Often, it reflects human experiences through a fabricated lens.

Types of Creative Writing

There are many types of creative writing that we need to explain.

Some of the most common types:

• Short stories
• Screenplays
• Flash fiction
• Creative Nonfiction

Short Stories (The Brief Escape)

Short stories are like narrative treasures.

They are compact but impactful, telling a full story within a limited word count. These tales often focus on a single character or a crucial moment.

Short stories are known for their brevity.

They deliver emotion and insight in a concise yet powerful package. This format is ideal for exploring diverse genres, themes, and characters. It leaves a lasting impression on readers.

Example: Emma discovers an old photo of her smiling grandmother. It’s a rarity. Through flashbacks, Emma learns about her grandmother’s wartime love story. She comes to understand her grandmother’s resilience and the value of joy.

Novels (The Long Journey)

Novels are extensive explorations of character, plot, and setting.

They span thousands of words, giving writers the space to create entire worlds. Novels can weave complex stories across various themes and timelines.

The length of a novel allows for deep narrative and character development.

Readers get an immersive experience.

Example: Across the Divide tells of two siblings separated in childhood. They grow up in different cultures. Their reunion highlights the strength of family bonds, despite distance and differences.

Poetry (The Soul’s Language)

Poetry expresses ideas and emotions through rhythm, sound, and word beauty.

It distills emotions and thoughts into verses. Poetry often uses metaphors, similes, and figurative language to reach the reader’s heart and mind.

Poetry ranges from structured forms, like sonnets, to free verse.

The latter breaks away from traditional formats for more expressive thought.

Example: Whispers of Dawn is a poem collection capturing morning’s quiet moments. “First Light” personifies dawn as a painter. It brings colors of hope and renewal to the world.

Plays (The Dramatic Dialogue)

Plays are meant for performance. They bring characters and conflicts to life through dialogue and action.

This format uniquely explores human relationships and societal issues.

Playwrights face the challenge of conveying setting, emotion, and plot through dialogue and directions.

Example: Echoes of Tomorrow is set in a dystopian future. Memories can be bought and sold. It follows siblings on a quest to retrieve their stolen memories. They learn the cost of living in a world where the past has a price.

Screenplays (Cinema’s Blueprint)

Screenplays outline narratives for films and TV shows.

They require an understanding of visual storytelling, pacing, and dialogue. Screenplays must fit film production constraints.

Example: The Last Light is a screenplay for a sci-fi film. Humanity’s survivors on a dying Earth seek a new planet. The story focuses on spacecraft Argo’s crew as they face mission challenges and internal dynamics.

Memoirs (The Personal Journey)

Memoirs provide insight into an author’s life, focusing on personal experiences and emotional journeys.

They differ from autobiographies by concentrating on specific themes or events.

Memoirs invite readers into the author’s world.

They share lessons learned and hardships overcome.

Example: Under the Mango Tree is a memoir by Maria Gomez. It shares her childhood memories in rural Colombia. The mango tree in their yard symbolizes home, growth, and nostalgia. Maria reflects on her journey to a new life in America.

Flash Fiction (The Quick Twist)

Flash fiction tells stories in under 1,000 words.

It’s about crafting compelling narratives concisely. Each word in flash fiction must count, often leading to a twist.

This format captures life’s vivid moments, delivering quick, impactful insights.

Example: The Last Message features an astronaut’s final Earth message as her spacecraft drifts away. In 500 words, it explores isolation, hope, and the desire to connect against all odds.

Creative Nonfiction (The Factual Tale)

Creative nonfiction combines factual accuracy with creative storytelling.

This genre covers real events, people, and places with a twist. It uses descriptive language and narrative arcs to make true stories engaging.

Creative nonfiction includes biographies, essays, and travelogues.

Example: Echoes of Everest follows the author’s Mount Everest climb. It mixes factual details with personal reflections and the history of past climbers. The narrative captures the climb’s beauty and challenges, offering an immersive experience.

Fantasy (The World Beyond)

Fantasy transports readers to magical and mythical worlds.

It explores themes like good vs. evil and heroism in unreal settings. Fantasy requires careful world-building to create believable yet fantastic realms.

Example: The Crystal of Azmar tells of a young girl destined to save her world from darkness. She learns she’s the last sorceress in a forgotten lineage. Her journey involves mastering powers, forming alliances, and uncovering ancient kingdom myths.

Science Fiction (The Future Imagined)

Science fiction delves into futuristic and scientific themes.

It questions the impact of advancements on society and individuals.

Science fiction ranges from speculative to hard sci-fi, focusing on plausible futures.

Example: When the Stars Whisper is set in a future where humanity communicates with distant galaxies. It centers on a scientist who finds an alien message. This discovery prompts a deep look at humanity’s universe role and interstellar communication.

Watch this great video that explores the question, “What is creative writing?” and “How to get started?”:

What Are the 5 Cs of Creative Writing?

The 5 Cs of creative writing are fundamental pillars.

They guide writers to produce compelling and impactful work. These principles—Clarity, Coherence, Conciseness, Creativity, and Consistency—help craft stories that engage and entertain.

They also resonate deeply with readers. Let’s explore each of these critical components.

Clarity makes your writing understandable and accessible.

It involves choosing the right words and constructing clear sentences. Your narrative should be easy to follow.

In creative writing, clarity means conveying complex ideas in a digestible and enjoyable way.

Coherence ensures your writing flows logically.

It’s crucial for maintaining the reader’s interest. Characters should develop believably, and plots should progress logically. This makes the narrative feel cohesive.

Conciseness

Conciseness is about expressing ideas succinctly.

It’s being economical with words and avoiding redundancy. This principle helps maintain pace and tension, engaging readers throughout the story.

Creativity is the heart of creative writing.

It allows writers to invent new worlds and create memorable characters. Creativity involves originality and imagination. It’s seeing the world in unique ways and sharing that vision.

Consistency

Consistency maintains a uniform tone, style, and voice.

It means being faithful to the world you’ve created. Characters should act true to their development. This builds trust with readers, making your story immersive and believable.

Is Creative Writing Easy?

Creative writing is both rewarding and challenging.

Crafting stories from your imagination involves more than just words on a page. It requires discipline and a deep understanding of language and narrative structure.

Exploring complex characters and themes is also key.

Refining and revising your work is crucial for developing your voice.

The ease of creative writing varies. Some find the freedom of expression liberating.

Others struggle with writer’s block or plot development challenges. However, practice and feedback make creative writing more fulfilling.

What Does a Creative Writer Do?

A creative writer weaves narratives that entertain, enlighten, and inspire.

Writers explore both the world they create and the emotions they wish to evoke. Their tasks are diverse, involving more than just writing.

Creative writers develop ideas, research, and plan their stories.

They create characters and outline plots with attention to detail. Drafting and revising their work is a significant part of their process. They strive for the 5 Cs of compelling writing.

Writers engage with the literary community, seeking feedback and participating in workshops.

They may navigate the publishing world with agents and editors.

Creative writers are storytellers, craftsmen, and artists. They bring narratives to life, enriching our lives and expanding our imaginations.

How to Get Started With Creative Writing?

Embarking on a creative writing journey can feel like standing at the edge of a vast and mysterious forest.

The path is not always clear, but the adventure is calling.

Here’s how to take your first steps into the world of creative writing:

• Find a time of day when your mind is most alert and creative.
• Create a comfortable writing space free from distractions.
• Use prompts to spark your imagination. They can be as simple as a word, a phrase, or an image.
• Try writing for 15-20 minutes on a prompt without editing yourself. Let the ideas flow freely.
• Reading is fuel for your writing. Explore various genres and styles.
• Pay attention to how your favorite authors construct their sentences, develop characters, and build their worlds.
• Don’t pressure yourself to write a novel right away. Begin with short stories or poems.
• Small projects can help you hone your skills and boost your confidence.
• Look for writing groups in your area or online. These communities offer support, feedback, and motivation.
• Participating in workshops or classes can also provide valuable insights into your writing.
• Understand that your first draft is just the beginning. Revising your work is where the real magic happens.
• Be open to feedback and willing to rework your pieces.
• Carry a notebook or digital recorder to jot down ideas, observations, and snippets of conversations.
• These notes can be gold mines for future writing projects.

Final Thoughts: What Is Creative Writing?

Creative writing is an invitation to explore the unknown, to give voice to the silenced, and to celebrate the human spirit in all its forms.

Check out these creative writing tools (that I highly recommend):

Read This Next:

• What Is a Prompt in Writing? (Ultimate Guide + 200 Examples)
• What Is A Personal Account In Writing? (47 Examples)
• How To Write A Fantasy Short Story (Ultimate Guide + Examples)
• How To Write A Fantasy Romance Novel [21 Tips + Examples)

The Creative Brief: Everything You Need to Know

Writing a full creative brief may not always be necessary — but in most cases, entering into a project without a creative brief is like flying blind. With many marketing departments producing high volumes of collateral and needing to be as agile as possible in their delivery, it’s critical that the process is as efficient as possible. And that starts with a well-written creative brief.

Download your free creative brief template

In this creative brief guide you will discover:

What is a creative brief?

• Why you need a creative brief
• How to write a creative brief?

When should you use a creative brief?

Who should fill out the creative brief.

• Creative brief template

A creative brief is a document used to outline the strategy of a creative project. A creative brief contains project details including:

• Project purpose
• Requirements
• Demographics

Usually developed in the project initiation phase, a creative brief will help a creative team better understand a project from the start, and may be presented to key stakeholders and clients.

Although not all creative briefs are created equal, they all share the same basic layout. And since some projects require more detailed planning than others, you’ll waste a lot of time and effort if you try to use one detailed creative brief template for all your work.

This is where electronic creative briefs in marketing work management tools come in handy. If it’s a quality tool, the briefs will be customizable so you can design them to only cover the information necessary for that specific type of project.

Effective creative briefs rely on good questions. Ask the right questions and you’ll write a creative brief that will make your life easier. Essentially, you have to clarify the who, what, where, when, and how of the deliverable . We describe how below.

Why you need a creative brief.

You need a plan.

Obviously, you can’t design something you don’t understand. Your project needs a reason to exist, as well as:

• expectations

In a creative brief, you articulate your vision and justify its benefits, as well as plan how you will target your audience. From the beginning, a creative brief puts everyone on the same page before launching a project.

A well-written creative brief will save you time.

Creative briefing isn’t just cobbling together a document, it’s wielding a tool that facilitates clear and thorough communication from the beginning of the design process. A clear brief can prevent:

• Last-minute changes
• Misunderstandings
• Conflicting objectives

All of which will cost your team valuable time and money.

You’ll maintain accountability and communication.

Agreeing on your scope , deliverables, objectives, the persona and execution of a project will help anchor your team and your stakeholders . Establishing parameters and, perhaps most importantly, building trust at the outset will go a long way toward smoother processes.

Requests and approvals will be processed faster.

Ambiguous goals are difficult to achieve. Consider vague requests such as, ‘I just want a really clean-looking design.’ While some of this is simply a fact of life for design professionals, a creative brief forces clarity upstream, minimizing difficult confrontations during the review and approval cycle.

The creative briefing process is as much about anticipating obstacles as understanding and aligning objectives. Better to get clarification during the planning phase than when you’re in the middle of proofing.

The final product will be higher quality.

This is a direct result of setting clear objectives, aligning with business objectives, and vetting expectations up front. When everyone’s time is valued and expectations are made clear, it’s easier for the team to hit their mark, remain invested, motivated, and proud of their work.

“The brief was always supposed to be a springboard for great work. Not a straitjacket.”

David Trott

author of Creative Mischief

So let the design brief act as your guiding instrument and understand that time spent on a well-designed brief is an investment that pays off in the end with:

• Greatly improved process
• Higher quality of output

And, ultimately, a more trusting relationship between your team and client.

Whitepaper: Agile Marketing for Creative Teams

Elements in a creative brief.

Before writing a creative brief, be sure to ask these 10 questions. Some are left out of briefs too often. Believe it or not, covering these bases can make the difference between a struggling content project and highly effective one.

1. Why are we doing this?

Anyone that’s going to create anything worthy of publishing needs to know some context to the assigned project. They need to know:

• The ‘why’ of the project — what’s the need?
• What’s the pain?
• What’s the opportunity or challenge?

Your team may not need to know every nitty-gritty historical detail of the project, so don’t waste time trying to pin down every little thing — only divulge what’s most important to your team doing great work.

2. Who is our target audience?

How will you know how to target your deliverables unless you know who’s going to see, handle, watch, or read what you’re creating? Make sure you know the ‘who’ of the project before beginning. And I don’t just mean writing ‘potential customers.’ What about these potential customers?

• How old are they?
• Where are they from?
• What's their average salary?
• What are their self-interests?

This type of information could be the difference between a successful campaign and huge waste of time and money.

3. Who are our competitors?

After you’ve identified your target audience, include a list of your main business rivals on the brief. Add links to review what they offer and any similar projects to yours they have attempted. Consider:

• How did they do?
• What can you learn from them?
• Did they do a good job?

Finally, consider how can you differentiate yourself from them with your creative content.

4. What do you want us to deliver?

This is the client’s chance to tell you the ‘what’ of the project — what they actually want your team to deliver. This is where the client unveils their overall vision for the project. This can require a little digging, however, because often clients have a picture in their head of what they want.

If you can't get them to describe that picture, the work your team completes, no matter how fabulous, can disappoint clients if it differs from their vision. This is the time to ask questions, get clarifications and manage expectations by communicating what expectations can or cannot be met and why.

5. What’s the big idea?

If this deliverable or campaign could be boiled down to a handful or less of key messages, what would they be? Some agencies call this the ‘big idea.’ What does this project most need to convey to, or evoke from, its audience?

6. How do we want it to look?

This section is especially important for external agencies that may have to learn a whole new brand with every project. This is where the ‘how’ gets answered, where you clarify the:

And any other guidelines related to the project.

7. What is our core business objective?

Before we get into the work of shaping content, we need clarity on its reason for being. Unless it’s meeting a business objective, even the most dazzling projects risks failing at its ultimate goal of creating value.

Discuss this thoroughly with your team and stakeholders at the outset, ensuring that creative projects aren’t just window dressing, but high-contributing parts of a larger strategy . Ultimately, when a creative asset is produced with the business objective top of mind, defending aesthetic choices becomes easier.

8. Who are the stakeholders?

This also addresses the ‘who,’ but from the working side. Who will work on the project from the creative team? Who are the client’s decision-makers? Who should you go to for approval on drafts and in what order?

9. When is the deadline?

This is the ‘when’ of the project. Some of the key timings to ensure you confirm are:

• When is the start date?
• When is the final version due?
• What are the milestones?
• When are subtasks due?
• How many iterations are expected and by when?

When gathering this information, it’s important to determine what actions and dates are required of the client to keep the project on track. For example, do they only have two days to provide feedback without pushing back the deadline? This must be clearly defined from the beginning so the client will understand that any delays on their part will cause overall delays for the project.

You would be surprised how many creative briefs leave out these critical pieces of information, whether because the team is focused entirely on the deliverables or because they’re not asking.

Create an example timeline.

Create a timeline that looks something like this, working backwards from when the content needs to be deliverable if possible.

• Kick-off meeting: Day 1
• Final creative brief due: Day 10
• Content due to client: Day 30
• Content due back from client to action amends: Day 37
• Second review process: Day 40
• Upload online (or see proof in print): Day 42
• Publish: Day 45
• Measure success, govern and maintain: Day 45 onwards.

Remember, the content you’re creating ties into a campaign with concrete launch dates and your delivery date will become a critical component of its success. You need to know and be able to work with this project constraint , setting it out in the creative brief.

10. Where will this content appear?

Context is crucial in content. Different venues carry unique audience expectations and ways of engagement. You’d never, for example, write a print ad the same way you write a social post.

Where your content appears will determine its:

• Size and scale

And how it moves users to the next point on the customer journey. Be sure to hone in on where your end user will engage with your final product.

Learn more: Workfront for Project Management Whitepaper: Process, Creativity, and the Need for Speed

Creative briefs cover projects of different shapes, sizes, and styles. Because of this a tiering system is applied to projects to show what level of briefing is required. We explain Tier 1, 2 and 3 below:

• Tier 1: Non-standard, non-iterative, highly conceptual work — This work is the most prone to being ambiguous, which means creative briefs are a must. Otherwise, team members may not know where to start, or get started with a high risk of going in the wrong direction. Think about a full advertising campaign — you'll want a lot of direction from the client before your team begins work.
• Tier 2: Execution of previous work across deliverables — Deals with already defined and completed work, so doesn't need the detail of a Tier 1 creative brief. But your team will still run a risk if they don’t use one. This could be a website landing page for an internal client. Chances are, you’ve already created dozens of these, so you have a general idea of the expectations. But it’s always good to make sure you have all the information you need before you start.
• Tier 3: Edits, revisions, templated work — This requires the briefest brief of all, but even though it’s simple you'll want a project description. Plus, if you let the little things through with sticky notes and hallway conversations rather than requiring some form of a creative brief, you'll quickly run into problems.

There have long been questions of who should fill out the creative brief. Is it the:

• Creative director?
• Account manager?
• Designer or writer on the job?

The answer is, it depends. If you’re an agency or an in-house agency, the best practice is to have the representative from client services, or the assigned account manager, meet the client to go through the creative brief. It may make sense to include the creative director as well to make sure everyone has a sound understanding of the project requirements .

If you’re an in-house creative services team, you will need to determine what process works best for your team’s unique workflow. Perhaps it makes the most sense for the creative director to meet with the internal client to complete the brief. Maybe your team has traffic managers or production managers that would better fill that role.

At the end of the day, the thing you want to avoid is sending a document to the client to fill out on their own. This can lead to a number of problems:

• Client takes too long to fill it out
• Client doesn’t fill it out at all and gets frustrated
• Client only fills out some of the information
• Your team reads the brief and doesn’t understand.

To save time and frustration, and whether you’re an agency or an in-house team, have an initial meeting with your client to fill out the creative brief together and clarify points as needed.

An alternative is to use a marketing work management software like Workfront with built-in creative briefs where, upon initial request, the client is required to provide certain information for the team. Even in this scenario, as a best practice it’s recommended you take the time to meet with the client and ensure everyone is on the same page before production begins.

Creative brief template.

If your creative briefings include these principles, you have effectively implemented creative briefs into your workflow. The perfect creative brief template is not built in a day. It takes continual feedback and fine-tuning to match your organization’s needs. As you write more creative briefs, determine what common fields should be included and add them to continuously improve your creative brief template. To get a head start, download our creative brief template .

Remember though, it’s called a brief for a reason, so keep it short. Only ask for what your team absolutely needs. Also, be willing to adapt your creative brief to the tier your project fits under. Now you’re all set to escape ambiguity and finally get some clarity.

Frequently asked questions about how to write a creative brief.

What is a good creative brief?

To write a good creative brief you need to make sure it’s absolutely clear what needs to be done and by when. It should clarify the objective, make clear any deadlines, and provide as much information about the product or service as possible. Ideally both the agency and the client should have input into the brief.

What is a creative brief template?

A creative brief template is exactly that: a template you can use to make completing a creative brief easier. It should give you a clear structure to follow, with fields to include key information such as objective, target audience, and deadline.

Why is a creative brief important?

A creative brief is important for many reasons. Primarily because it helps to agree expectations, deliverables, and deadlines between the client and agency. Another important reason is it ensures work is done correctly and to the right standard. Often when a client or internal agency stakeholder is unhappy with a piece of work, a poor brief is to blame.

What is a creative brief video?

A creative brief video is a filmed version of a written brief. In the context of a project, a video brief is intended to provide the recipient with information about which actions rest with them and how their work relates to project goals.

Vivid Description in Creative Writing Examples (2024)

Are you looking for some vivid description in creative writing examples ? Sentences that paint the color of the sunset or the sense of excitement as one embarks for a new adventure? From authors like George R. R. Martin to Hester Fox , here are six ways to create vivid descriptions with some exquisite examples.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase using these links.

Jump to Section

The Definition of Vivid Description

• Use the Five Senses
• Involve Emotions
• Inject Details
• Anthropomorphism
• Depth Perception
• Word Choice
• More at Our Site !

Related posts: Smell of Nature: Descriptions that Appeal to the Senses

When you describe something as vivid , you’re implying that it’s exceptionally clear and detailed. Vivid description is, thus, a description that’s so clear that it paints a picture in front of you, transporting you into the scene it’s describing.

We love incorporating vivid descriptions into our writing because it pulls the audience into the worlds of our creation, aids their immersion into our stories, and provides them with an intensive experience to escape from every day, mundane life.

How to Incorporate Vivid Descriptions into Our Writing (with Examples)

Read on for six ways to produce vivid descriptions with examples, ranging from the use of the five senses to word choice .

1. Use the Five Senses

The easiest way to infuse vivid descriptions into your writing is to describe what your character experiences through their five senses (sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste). Consider this quote by Hester Fox in A Lullaby for Witches , which employs the use of various senses:

I was beautiful in the summer of 1876. The rocky Tynemouth coast was an easy place to be beautiful, though, with a fresh salt breeze that brought roses to my cheeks and sun that warmed my long hair , shooting the chestnut brown through with rich veins of copper . Hester Fox

Vivid description utilized the five senses. “ A fresh salt breeze ( smell and taste )… roses to my cheeks , chestnut brown through with rich veins of copper ( sight )… sun that warmed my long hair ( touch ).”

Moreover, “ rocky coast” also automatically conjures the image of waves crashing against rock, which is evoking the sense of hearing , touch and sight .

2. Involve Emotion

Vivid descriptions don’t necessarily have to be flowery and full of bombastic words. The right word, no matter how succinct, could be very effective when it plays with the human emotion . Take a look:

“The coarse weave was scratchy against her skin, but no velvet has ever felt so fine .” George R. R. Martin

This sentence is part of a scene in A Game of Thrones , when G.R.R. Martin’s character Sandor Clegane, a Barantheon royal bodyguard, gave the Barantheon enemy’s daughter Sansa his cloak after she was stripped and humiliated at the Barantheon court.

One reason for its effectiveness is because it tugs at the heartstrings . Readers were touched by Clegane’s small yet merciful action that spared Sansa from further humiliation.

Playing with the readers’ emotion is always a smart move when done carefully. That, along with the highlighted contrast of the sense of touch ( coarse versus velvet ; scratchy versus fine ) makes this sentence really impactful.

3. Inject Details

While the previous sentence by GGRM is succinct, verbose and lyrical wordings certainly has their places in creative writing. In fact, infusing rich details into your story is another method to create vivid descriptions.

Take a look at this sentence from Honored Enemy :

He remembered how his father had told him that when it snowed even humans could see the wind , and it was so. He watched as gusty eddies danced and flickered , a single flake pausing for a moment to hover before his eyes, a twirling crystal of light, the exhale of his warm breath causing it to dance away even as it melted . Raymond E. Feist

The author colored the colorless ( when it snowed even humans could see the wind ), put a pause in a movement ( a single flake pausing for a moment to hover before his eyes ) and highlighted a transformation ( his warm breath causing the snow to melt ). They all have the effect of bringing this specific scene to life for the readers.

Here, the author also happens to use another method, which is anthropomorphism (“… gusty eddies danced …”)

We’ll look into it further in our next point. 

4. Anthropomorphism

Create vivid descriptions by utilizing anthropomorphism (a literary device that involves giving non-human beings human characteristics, feelings, or intentions ). Consider this quote from The Quality of Silence :

It’s getting so hard to breathe, my lungs are filling up with ants and there isn’t room for air any more. There’s a monster made of cold, hard as the edge of a pavement , coming towards us in the dark and it’s cutting through the windscreen and doors and windows and the only weapon against it is heat, but we don’t have any heat. Rosamund Lupton

Here, vivid descriptions is achieved by attaching a sentient being’s attributes to non-sentient things (cold, a non-sentient thing, is likened to ants crawling up the lungs and monster coming from the dark).

The author also employed the use of details to bring the scene to life. She could have said, “ There’s a monster made of cold coming towards us and the only weapon against it is heat, but we don’t have any heat .”

But instead, she wrote, “ There’s a monster made of cold, hard as the edge of a pavement, coming towards us in the dark and it’s cutting through the windscreen and doors and windows and the only weapon against it is heat, but we don’t have any heat .”

The additional details transport us into the scene and we clench our teeth together with the protagonist of the story as she braces herself against the freezing weather.

5. Depth Perception

Vivid description helps the reader visualize the position of things. Words like beyond , over , above , top , bottom , high , low , instantly gives the readers a depth perception, a 3D point of view , almost, when they are picturing the scene you’re describing.

Consider this example from Tuck Everlasting :

“The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, but the first week of August is motionless , and hot.” Natalie Babbit

Natalie Babbitt in this sentence used words that indicate an upper position several times (hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, the highest seat of a Ferris wheel).

Her writing also utilized dynamic movement ( climb from a balmy spring, a drop to the chill of autumn) which indicates a flow from one position to another.

6. Word Choice

There’s no denying that word choice plays an important role in painting vivid descriptions into our writing. Describing is just as much about creating imagery and immersing the reader in a world as it is about expressing concrete information .

Consider this sentence below from Robert Lowell ‘s Collected Poems :

I saw the spiders marching through the air, swimming from tree to tree that mildewed day in latter August when the hay came creaking to the barn. – Robert Lowell

Instead of “ humid day “, the author uses “ mildewed day “ and it intensifies the sensation of that hot, summer day that suffocates the lungs with mustiness. By replacing swinging with swimming , the author paints an intriguing, zany picture in our minds.

More at our site!

There you have it, ways to create vivid description in creative writing as well as some examples. What’s your favorite one? Feel free to tell me in the comment!

Other similar posts: Smell of Nature: Exciting Descriptions

Or if you’re looking for writing prompts, check these out: Surreal Writing Prompts , Unique Zombie Ideas , or browse our Story Ideas & Writing Prompts category for more ideas.

If you have any question or feedback, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at the Contact Us page. Until next time!

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Crafting a Comprehensive Creative Brief: A Blueprint for Success

6 minutes read

In the dynamic and competitive landscape of the creative industry, a well-crafted creative brief serves as a compass, guiding teams through the intricacies of a project. Whether you're a designer, marketer, or part of a creative agency, a creative brief is an essential tool for aligning goals, fostering collaboration, and ultimately delivering exceptional results. In this article, we'll explore the key elements of a creative brief and why it's crucial for the success of any creative endeavor.

Part 1. What is a Creative Brief?

A creative brief is a document that outlines the objectives, scope, and expectations of a creative project. It acts as a communication bridge between clients and creative teams, providing a clear roadmap for the development of a campaign, design project, or any creative initiative. A well-crafted brief sets the tone, establishes a shared vision, and helps avoid misunderstandings or misinterpretations down the line.

Part 2. What Are the Key Components of a Creative Brief?

A well-crafted creative brief typically includes several key components to provide comprehensive guidance to the creative team. While specific formats may vary, the following components are commonly found in a creative brief:

Project Overview:   Start with a concise overview of the project. Include details such as the project name, purpose, and a brief description. This section should provide a snapshot of what the project aims to achieve.

Objectives and Goals:   Clearly articulate the goals and objectives of the project. What is the desired outcome? What specific results are expected? This section helps align the creative team with the client's vision and business objectives.

Target Audience:   Define the target audience or demographic the creative work is intended to reach. Understanding the audience helps tailor the messaging, design, and overall creative approach to resonate with the intended viewers.

Key Messages:   Outline the key messages that the creative project should convey. This includes core brand messages, unique selling points, or any specific information that needs emphasis.

Brand Guidelines:   Provide details about the brand's identity, including logos, color schemes, fonts, and other visual elements. Adhering to brand guidelines ensures consistency and reinforces brand identity across various touchpoints.

Competitive Landscape:   Conduct a brief analysis of the competitive landscape. Understanding what competitors are doing can help position the creative work in a unique and compelling way.

Scope of Work:   Clearly define the scope of the project, including deliverables, timelines, and any constraints or limitations. This section ensures that all stakeholders have a shared understanding of the project's parameters.

Budget and Resources:   Specify the budget allocated for the project and any available resources. This information is crucial for managing expectations and ensuring that the creative team has the necessary tools and support.

Approval Process:   Clearly outline the steps and individuals involved in the approval process. This helps avoid delays and ensures that the project progresses smoothly through each stage.

Timeline:   Create a realistic timeline that outlines key milestones and deadlines. A well-structured timeline keeps the project on track and helps manage client expectations regarding delivery dates.

Part 3. How a Creative Brief Works?

A creative brief serves as a crucial communication tool between the client or project manager and the creative team. Its primary purpose is to provide clear direction and essential information to guide the creative process. Here's how a creative brief typically works:

Initiation:   The process begins when a client or project manager identifies the need for a creative project. This could be anything from a new advertising campaign to a website redesign.

Request for Creative Brief:   The client or project manager initiates a request for a creative brief. They may provide initial information about the project and its objectives.

Development of the Creative Brief:   The creative team, which may include copywriters, designers, and other relevant professionals, collaborates to develop the creative brief. They gather information on project goals, target audience, key messages, tone, style, deliverables, budget, and timeline.

Client Approval:   The completed creative brief is then presented to the client or relevant stakeholders for approval. Any necessary revisions are made based on client feedback until the brief accurately reflects the project's requirements.

Guidance for the Creative Team:   Once approved, the creative brief serves as a guide for the creative team throughout the project. It helps them understand the project's context, goals, and constraints, ensuring that their work aligns with the client's vision.

Creative Development:   The creative team begins the process of developing concepts, designs, copy, or other creative elements based on the guidelines provided in the brief. They use the brief as a reference to ensure that their work meets the specified objectives.

Feedback and Revisions:   The initial creative concepts are presented to the client for feedback. Based on the client's input, revisions may be made to refine and improve the creative work.

Final Approval:   After a series of revisions and feedback loops, the final creative work is presented to the client for approval. Once approved, the project moves to the implementation phase.

Implementation:   The finalized creative work is implemented across various channels, such as print, digital media, or events, depending on the project.

Evaluation:   After implementation, the project's success is often evaluated against the initial objectives outlined in the creative brief. Lessons learned from the project may inform future creative briefs and projects.

By providing a structured framework and shared understanding, a creative brief helps streamline the creative process, reduce misunderstandings, and ensure that the final output effectively communicates the intended message to the target audience. It serves as a critical tool for collaboration between clients and creative professionals.

Part 4. How to Write a Creative Brief?

Writing a creative brief involves capturing essential information about a project and conveying it clearly to the creative team. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to write a creative brief:

Project Overview:

• Provide a brief description of the project, outlining its purpose and the need for creative input.
• Include any relevant background information that helps set the context.

Objectives and Goals:

• Clearly state the primary objectives and goals of the creative project.
• Keep it focused on what you want to achieve through the creative work.

Target Audience:

• Define the intended audience for the creative work.
• Briefly describe the audience's demographics, preferences, and behaviors.

Key Messages:

• Outline the main messages or points that the creative work should convey.
• Keep the messaging concise and aligned with the project's objectives.

Tone and Style:

• Provide brief guidance on the desired tone and style for the creative work.
• Consider the mood, language, and visual elements that best suit the project.

Deliverables and Timeline:

• List the specific items or assets that the creative team is expected to produce.
• Include a timeline with key milestones and deadlines for the project.

Approval Process and Contact Information:

• Outline the process for reviewing and approving the creative work.
• Provide contact information for key stakeholders and clarify how feedback should be communicated.

Remember, the key to a successful creative brief is clarity and focus. Keep each section concise and to the point, ensuring that the creative team can quickly grasp the essential details needed to deliver a successful project. If additional details are required, stakeholders can always provide more information during the collaboration process.

Part 5. Best Tool for Writing a Creative Brief

Boardmix is an innovative online whiteboard tool designed to streamline the process of creating a creative brief. With our extensive range of drawing templates, you can easily visualize your ideas, map out strategies, and collaborate with your team in real time. Unlike traditional methods, Boardmix allows you to create dynamic and interactive briefs that can be edited and updated as your project evolves. Whether you're brainstorming new concepts or presenting finalized plans, Boardmix provides a flexible and efficient solution for all your creative briefing needs.

Try for Free

Key features of Boardmix

• Real-time Collaboration:   Boardmix allows multiple users to work on the same whiteboard simultaneously, enabling real-time collaboration and idea sharing.
• Extensive Drawing Templates:   With a wide range of pre-designed templates, Boardmix makes it easy for users to visualize their ideas and create comprehensive project plans.
• Interactive Briefs:   Unlike traditional static briefs, Boardmix's dynamic and interactive briefs can be edited and updated as your project evolves, keeping everyone on the same page.
• Easy-to-use Interface:   Boardmix features an intuitive interface that requires no technical skills, making it accessible for everyone on your team.
• Secure Cloud Storage:   All your whiteboards are securely stored in the cloud, ensuring you can access them anytime, anywhere.

A well-prepared creative brief is a foundational element for success in the creative industry. It serves as a strategic document that aligns stakeholders, provides clarity, and sets the stage for the development of impactful and effective creative work. By investing time and effort in creating a comprehensive creative brief, teams can navigate the complexities of creative projects with confidence, resulting in work that not only meets but exceeds expectations.

Experience a new level of efficiency and collaboration with Boardmix for your creative briefs. Our real-time collaboration feature, extensive drawing templates, and interactive briefs provide a dynamic platform to visualize and share your ideas. Try Boardmix today and revolutionize the way you create and manage your creative briefs.

Join Boardmix to collaborate with your team.

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Writing About Art

• Visual Description

The simplest visual description uses ordinary words to convey what the writer sees.  First he or she must look at the subject – slowly, carefully, and repeatedly, if possible – to identify the parts that make the whole. These parts must be sorted into the more and the less important, since no description can include everything, and assumptions must be separated from actual observations. It is easy to confuse what we see with what we think we see, or what we know is there.  Then comes the difficult job of finding appropriate words. In effect, writing a visual description consists of two separate acts of translation.  The first transforms a visual experience into a verbal one and the second turns a private experience into one that can be communicated to someone else.

Any writer takes some things for granted. It is crucial to understand what these things are and then consider them in terms of both the purpose of the description and the interests of the reader.  For example, to describe the sky in a particular 17th-century Dutch landscape painting as cloudy indicates one aspect of the picture in a general way.  It leaves entirely unexplained the specific elements that create the visual effect – like the shapes and colors of the clouds, the way they have been arranged, or how they suggest space.  These qualities cannot be imagined by a reader who has not been given explicit details.  In the same way, identifying something by artist, title, and date might be all a specialist needs to visualize the work.  Anyone else, however, will need to be told much more.

Generally speaking, the best place to begin a visual description is with an explanation of the subject and the materials of the work.  Together they provide enough information to orient any reader.  In most cases, though, neither will be enough by itself.  To say that a work of art shows a woman and a child, but not whether the representation is in two or three dimensions, makes it hard to form even the roughest mental image.  If, however, the writer says that the work is a life-size sculpture of a woman and child, the reader can begin to imagine what it might look like.  He or she also will know enough to have questions.  A good written description will anticipate these questions and provide information in an order that answers them.

Additional observations can make the first sentence even more useful.  Perhaps the artist is famous, and “a life-size sculpture of a woman and child by Henry Moore” would convey a great deal to the reader.  Perhaps the subject is the Virgin Mary and Jesus, an identification filled with meaning for someone who is knowledgeable about Christianity.  Maybe the sculptor is not known and the subject has not been identified.  Then describing the relationship between the figures might be helpful.  To say that the work is a life-size sculpture of a seated woman holding a small child on her lap gives the reader a beginning.  Of course the introductory sentence cannot hold too much information.  It must strike a balance between giving the reader a few vague generalities and trying to convey everything at once.

A traditional work of art is, first of all, a physical object.  The material or materials used may not be possible to identify by just looking.  Perhaps they look like something they are not, or the surface and texture have been obscured by layers of paint.  In cases like these, the correct identification can be brought to the attention of the reader, but not as part of what anyone can see.  This is an instance of knowing being different from seeing.  If information is based on an external source, even a museum label, the source must be cited after it has been verified.  Many mistakes get repeated as facts by people who did not bother to check them.

The size of a work is always crucial. The effect made on a viewer by an object that can be held in the hand, compared to a billboard that covers the side of a building, is so different as to make any similarities seem almost inconsequential.  The first demands a very intimate relationship, with careful and close looking to see what is there.  The other must be seen from a distance and may contain details that are too small to be comprehensible.  Scale also influences the design of a work, since the same composition, colors, and methods of making rarely transfer effectively from a small format to a very large one, or vice versa.  This is another reason why size must be considered in a visual description.

Color matters.  Even if it is not part of the subject, it influences the way we look at a work.  Bright colors catch our eye before dark ones do, and even subtle changes may matter a great deal.  The sense of space created within an abstract painting by Wassily Kandinsky comes from the colors he chose as much as the shapes.  Often the color of a work has changed over time. Some Greek sculptures, which we are accustomed to see as white marble, were painted with lifelike colors. Our expectations make reconstructions look startlingly incorrect. 5 The controversy that surrounded the cleaning of Michelangelo’s paintings in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican was partly about technical matters, but also about the tremendous change it made to the colors.  Those who accepted the results of the cleaning as historically correct had to revise their ideas about Michelangelo as an artist as well as about the history of 16th-century Italian art. 6

The qualities listed above explain why a reproduction can never substitute for an original.  A good copy will convey certain elements of the work, but it cannot convey them all. Even an excellent color photograph of an oil painting, a two-dimensional picture of a two-dimensional picture, will leave out more information than it gives. The same is even more true with reproductions of three-dimensional objects.  A single image communicates only one point of view, and it cannot indicate size, shape, surface, or volume.  These are the most essential visual qualities of sculpture.

Art historians usually do not write general visual descriptions, because they are intent upon making a specific argument or they are interested in a particular aspect of a work.  One exception is James Cahill, whose analyses of Chinese paintings provide exceptionally complete accounts of what the pictures look like.  Even without being interested in his scholarly purpose, any reader can appreciate his skill as a writer.  Typically, he used ordinary words to make his readers understand size and brush stroke as well as subject and composition.  His authorial voice is even and careful and always that of a historian, removed in time and place from the works in question.  At the same time, however, he often described what he saw in terms of how it must have been made.  In this way, he made a sense of artistic process seem like a vital part of the finished works.

One passage by Cahill about a picture from the Ming period shows how he helped make his readers more attentive viewers.  About the ink paintings in an album by the painter Wang Li (Private collection and Shanghai Museum, China), he wrote:

The surviving leaves [of Scenes of Hua-shan ] exhibit a remarkable variety in theme and composition . . ..  [O]ne may question whether the actual landscape offers any such powerfully overhanging formations of strangely twisted and pitted rock as the album does. In one of the leaves, such a mass occupies almost the whole space of the picture, leaving only narrow ravines at the sides, in which travelers are visible on paths, climbing always upward. . . .  He draws in heavy lines that taper at the ends and thicken where they bend; it is the interrelationships of these bent lines, together with sparse texture strokes and a limited use of ink wash, that define the shapes of the rocks and the hollows in and around them.  Bushes and trees grow from crevices or on the tops of boulders and ridges.  Presenting such a massive escarpment full face to the viewer . . . seems to endow the landscape with an unearthly inner life more than it portrays the effects of natural geological processes. 7

These few sentences suggest the landscape elements in the picture, the way they are arranged, what kinds of strokes Wang Li used, and the effect of the work on the viewer.

Beginning with a description of the subject of the album as “powerfully overhanging formations of strangely twisted and pitted rock” gives the reader a vivid image to which each word has contributed.  “Powerfully” suggests the way in which the rocks are “overhanging” and “formations” suggests the idea of shapes being created over time.  This makes better sense after the next phrase, which describes the rocks as “strangely twisted and pitted.” All of those words allow “mass,” in the next sentence, to suggest a specific visual character.  Similarly, “heavy lines that taper at the ends and thicken where they bend” is made up of words that occur in everyday language, but they combine to evoke how Wang Li’s brush must have moved to deposit the ink as it did.  With the phrase “massive encarpment,” the final sentence reiterates the ideas of powerful formations and mass.  Then it turns in the unexpected direction of the painted landscape having “an unearthly inner life,” which suggests an entirely different dimension from the last phrase, “the effects of natural geological processes.”  Together, though, they convey a sense of wonder at how the picture presents its subject.

A Western oil painting offers very different qualities to describe from a Chinese ink painting.  An exhibition review about Willem de Kooning's work by David Rosand conveys how dramatic the effect of paint and color can be:

Among the first colors to emerge from de Kooning’s monochrome palette of the late 1930s is a flesh pink.  Modulated from near neutrality to cosmetic blowsiness, this hue never abandons its significance: throughout his work, it declares flesh.  As de Kooning’s paint itself acquires an increased substance, which in turn inspires and provokes the aggressiveness of the brush, his visceral equation of impasto and flesh becomes more integral to his art.  This phenomenology of paint is most obviously realized in the Woman series (from c. 1950 inwards). . . .  The series marks a watershed in his career: the return to figuration allowed the artist to acknowledge overtly the physiognomic basis of his painterly style, its source in the gestures of the body. . . .  Even as de Kooning moved to an imagery of abstract landscapes, individual strokes, gestures developed in the earlier figures, continue to carry by allusion and recollection their sense of flesh – just as the recurring pink proclaims flesh. . . . 8

Like Cahill, Rosand saw the physical movements of the painter in the work he described, but they are “gestures of the body” rather than the hand.  These gestures provide the “physiognomic basis” for de Kooning’s style, and create a direct connection between the figural subject and the presence of the artist.  Color also is important, the crucial “flesh pink” changing from “near neutrality” to “cosmetic blowsiness.”

Rosand used the word “impasto” to refer to de Kooning’s paint.  The term, which comes from the Italian word for dough, refers to accumulations of paint on the surface of a canvas, often textured so they catch the light.  The technique first appeared in Venetian paintings made during the Renaissance, by Titian among others.  Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent Van Gogh are two other artists famous for manipulating oil paint in this way.  By choosing this word, as well as describing the style as “painterly” (discussed in Stylistic Analysis), Rosand connected de Kooning to a specific tradition of Western painting.

• Introduction
• Formal Analysis
• Personal Style
• Period Style
• "Realistic"
• The Biography
• Iconographic Analysis
• Historical Analysis
• Bibliography
• Appendix I: Writing the Paper
• Appendix II: Citation Forms
• Stylistic Analysis
• Doing the Research
• The First Draft
• The Final Paper
• About the Author

© Marjorie Munsterberg 2008-2009

Apply Description Techniques to Bring Ideas to Life: A Guide for Creative Professionals

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Applying description techniques is an effective way to bring ideas to life. When an idea is presented in a clear and compelling manner, it becomes easier for others to understand and visualize. This can lead to increased engagement, buy-in, and ultimately, successful implementation.

There are a variety of techniques that can be used to describe ideas. One common approach is to use vivid language that appeals to the senses. This can help to create a mental picture in the listener’s mind, making the idea more tangible and memorable. Another technique is to use analogies or metaphors to help explain complex concepts in a more relatable way . By comparing the idea to something familiar, it becomes easier for the listener to understand and connect with.

Overall, applying description techniques to bring ideas to life is a valuable skill for anyone looking to communicate effectively. By using techniques such as vivid language and analogies, ideas can be presented in a way that is clear, compelling, and easy to understand. This can lead to increased engagement, understanding, and ultimately, success.

Fundamentals of Descriptive Techniques

Descriptive writing is a form of writing that aims to create a vivid picture in the reader’s mind. It is a crucial skill to have in various fields, such as creative writing , advertising, and journalism. In this section, we will discuss the fundamentals of descriptive techniques.

Understanding Sensory Language

Sensory language is the use of words that evoke the five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. By incorporating sensory language into writing, the reader can experience the scene, character, or object being described. For example, instead of saying, “the dog barked,” a writer could use sensory language and write , “the dog’s loud bark echoed through the empty street.

Utilizing Metaphors and Similes

Metaphors and similes are figures of speech that compare two things. Metaphors directly compare two things by saying that one thing is another, while similes use “like” or “as” to make a comparison. By using metaphors and similes, writers can create vivid imagery and add depth to their writing. For example, instead of saying, “the sky is blue,” a writer could use a metaphor and write, “the sky is a canvas of blue.”

The Role of Personification in Description

Personification is the attribution of human qualities to non-human things. By using personification, writers can make inanimate objects more relatable and add emotional depth to their writing. For example, instead of saying, “the wind blew,” a writer could use personification and write, “the wind howled and danced through the trees.”

In summary, descriptive writing is a crucial skill that can be improved by understanding sensory language, utilizing metaphors and similes, and incorporating personification. By using these techniques, writers can create vivid and engaging descriptions that bring ideas to life.

Crafting Vivid Descriptions

Crafting vivid descriptions is an essential skill for bringing ideas to life. By using sensory details and setting the scene with seasons, writers can create a world that readers can see, hear, smell, taste, and feel.

Incorporating Sensory Details

Incorporating sensory details is crucial for creating vivid descriptions. Sensory details are words and phrases that appeal to the five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. By using sensory details, writers can transport readers into the world they are creating.

For example, instead of saying “the flower looked beautiful,” a writer could say “the vibrant red petals of the rose caught her eye, and the sweet fragrance filled her nose.” This description not only tells the reader what the flower looks like but also what it smells like.

Setting the Scene with Seasons

Seasons can also be used to create vivid descriptions. Each season has its own unique characteristics, and by incorporating them into the description, writers can create a more immersive experience for the reader.

For example, a writer describing a winter scene could say “the snow-covered trees glistened in the moonlight, and the crisp air made her cheeks rosy.” This description not only sets the scene but also conveys the feeling of coldness.

By crafting vivid descriptions, writers can bring their ideas to life and create a world that readers can immerse themselves in. Incorporating sensory details and setting the scene with seasons are just two techniques that can help writers create more vivid descriptions .

The Intersection of Storytelling and Description

In the world of writing, storytelling and description are two crucial elements that go hand in hand. While storytelling provides the plot and characters, descriptive writing brings them to life by painting a vivid picture in the reader’s mind.

Enhancing Fiction with Descriptive Writing

Descriptive writing is particularly important when it comes to fiction. By using sensory details such as sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch, authors can transport readers to different worlds and make them feel like they are part of the story.

For example, instead of simply saying, “The sun was setting,” a writer could describe the scene in more detail: “The sun was a fiery ball of orange and red, casting long shadows across the deserted beach. The waves crashed against the shore, their salty spray filling the air with a refreshing coolness.” This level of detail not only enhances the reader’s experience but also helps to establish the mood and tone of the story.

Conveying Emotions Through Detail

Another important aspect of descriptive writing is its ability to convey emotions through detail. By describing a character’s physical appearance, actions, and surroundings, writers can reveal their inner thoughts and feelings without explicitly stating them.

For example, instead of saying, “She was sad,” a writer could describe the character’s body language and facial expressions: “Her shoulders slumped, and tears streamed down her cheeks. She stared blankly ahead, her eyes red and puffy from crying.” This level of detail not only shows the character’s sadness but also allows readers to empathize with her and feel her pain.

In conclusion, descriptive writing is a powerful tool that can bring ideas to life and enhance the reader’s experience. By using sensory details and conveying emotions through detail, writers can create a world that is both believable and captivating.

From Concept to Execution

Bringing ideas to life can be a daunting task, but with the right approach, it can be a rewarding experience. The process involves taking a concept and turning it into a tangible product or service. This section will explore the steps involved in the journey from concept to execution.

Developing a Framework for Ideas

The first step in bringing an idea to life is to develop a framework. This involves outlining the key components of the idea, including the target audience, features, and benefits. It is essential to create a clear and concise framework that can be easily communicated to others.

One effective way to develop a framework is to use a mind map or a flowchart. This can help to visualize the different components of the idea and how they fit together. It is also important to consider the resources required to bring the idea to life, such as time, money, and personnel.

Feedback and Iterative Testing

Once a framework has been established, it is important to gather feedback from potential users and stakeholders. This can be done through surveys, focus groups, or user testing. Feedback can help to refine the idea and identify any potential problems.

Iterative testing involves making small changes to the idea based on feedback and testing it again. This process can be repeated until the idea is refined and ready for launch. It is important to keep an open mind and be willing to make changes based on feedback.

Launching Ideas into Action

The final step in bringing an idea to life is to launch it into action. This involves executing the plan and bringing the idea to market. It is important to have a clear plan for execution, including timelines, budgets, and personnel.

Launching an idea into action requires a combination of creativity, planning, and execution. It is important to stay focused on the goal and be willing to make adjustments as needed. With the right approach, any idea can be brought to life and turned into a successful product or service.

In conclusion, applying description techniques can be a powerful way to bring ideas to life. By using vivid language and sensory details, innovators can create a compelling vision of what their ideas could become. This can help them communicate the value of their ideas to others and identify new opportunities for growth and development.

One key benefit of using description techniques is that they can help innovators tap into the emotions and motivations of their audience. By painting a vivid picture of the benefits and possibilities of their ideas, innovators can inspire others to get on board and support their vision.

Another advantage of using description techniques is that they can help innovators identify potential challenges and roadblocks. By thinking through the details of their ideas and visualizing how they might play out in the real world, innovators can anticipate problems and develop strategies to overcome them.

Overall, applying description techniques can be a valuable tool for innovators looking to bring their ideas to life. By using clear, confident language and incorporating relevant details and examples, innovators can communicate the value of their ideas and inspire others to join them in pursuing new opportunities for growth and development.

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21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World Quarter 1 – Module 4: Creative Representation of a Literary Text

21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World Alternative Delivery Mode Quarter 1 – Module 4: Creative Representation of Literacy Text First Edition, 2020

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Published by the Department of Education Secretary: Leonor Magtolis Briones Undersecretary: Diosdado M. San Antonio

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Writers: Alma Teresa Atrero-Corpuz, Florabel B. Jacinto, Roanne Julie D. Davila Tab space bar Editors: Lawrence B. Icasiano, Paula J. Martinez after the colon Reviewers: Abigail I. Mirabel-Agapay, Roderick O. Delmo, Julieta R. De Jesus Illustrators: Patrick L. Pernia, Norvin B. Taniza Layout Artists: Marites K. Chavez, Elleden Grace L. Denosta Management Team: Wilfredo E. Cabral Job S. Zape Jr. Eugenio S. Adrao Elaine T. Balaogan Fe M. Ong-ongowan Editha B. Gregorio Laarni R. Granado Michael M. Acuna Julieta R. De Jesus

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21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World Quarter 1 – Module 4: Creative Representation of Literary Text

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Introductory Message

For the Facilitator:

Welcome to the 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World, Grades 11/12 Alternative Delivery Mode (ADM) Module on Creative Representation of Literary Text!

This module was collaboratively designed, developed and reviewed by educators both from public and private institutions to assist you, the teacher or facilitator in helping the learners meet the standards set by the K to 12 Curriculum while overcoming their personal, social, and economic constraints in schooling.

This learning resource hopes to engage the learners into guided and independent learning activities at their own pace and time. Furthermore, this also aims to help learners acquire the needed 21st century skills while taking into consideration their needs and circumstances.

In addition to the material in the main text, you will also see this box in the body of the module:

Notes to the Teacher

This contains helpful tips or strategies that will help you in guiding the learners.

As a facilitator, you are expected to orient the learners on how to use this module. You also need to keep track of the learners' progress while allowing them to manage their own learning. Furthermore, you are expected to encourage and assist the learners as they do the tasks included in the module.

For the Learner:

Welcome to the 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World Grade 11/12 Alternative Delivery Mode (ADM) Module Creative Representation of Literacy Text! The hand is one of the most symbolized parts of the human body. It is often used to depict skill, action and purpose. Through our hands we may learn, create and accomplish. Hence, the hand in this learning resource signifies that you as a learner are capable and empowered to successfully achieve the relevant competencies and skills at your own pace and time. Your academic success lies in your own hands!

This module was designed to provide you with fun and meaningful opportunities for guided and independent learning at your own pace and time. You will be enabled to process the contents of the learning resource while being an active learner.

This module has the following parts and corresponding icons:

What I Need to Know This will give you an idea of the skills or

competencies you are expected to learn in the module.

What I Know This part includes an activity that aims to

check what you already know about the lesson to take. If you get all the answers correct (100%), you may decide to skip this module.

What’s In This is a brief drill or review to help you link

the current lesson with the previous one.

What’s New In this portion, the new lesson will be

introduced to you in various ways such as a story, a song, a poem, a problem opener, an activity or a situation.

What is It This section provides a brief discussion of

the lesson. This aims to help you discover and understand new concepts and skills.

What’s More This comprises activities for independent

practice to solidify your understanding and skills of the topic. You may check the answers to the exercises using the Answer Key at the end of the module.

What I Have Learned This includes questions or blank

sentence/paragraph to be filled in to process what you learned from the lesson.

What I Can Do This section provides an activity which will

help you transfer your new knowledge or skill into real life situations or concerns.

Assessment This is a task which aims to evaluate your

level of mastery in achieving the learning competency.

Additional Activities In this portion, another activity will be given

to you to enrich your knowledge or skill of the lesson learned. This also tends retention of learned concepts.

Answer Key This contains answers to all activities in the

At the end of this module you will also find:

References This is a list of all sources used in developing this module. The following are some reminders in using this module:

1. Use the module with care. Do not put unnecessary mark/s on any part of the module. Use a separate sheet of paper in answering the exercises. 2. Don’t forget to answer What I Know before moving on to the other activities included in the module. 3. Read the instruction carefully before doing each task. 4. Observe honesty and integrity in doing the tasks and checking your answers. 5. Finish the task at hand before proceeding to the next. 6. Return this module to your teacher/facilitator once you are through with it. If you encounter any difficulty in answering the tasks in this module, do not hesitate to consult your teacher or facilitator. Always bear in mind that you are not alone.

We hope that through this material, you will experience meaningful learning and gain deep understanding of the relevant competencies. You can do it!

What I Need to Know

This module was designed and written with you in mind. It is here to facilitate you and to create artistic representation of literary text by applying multimedia skills. The scope of this module permits it to be used in many different learning situations. The language used recognizes the diverse vocabulary level of students. The lessons are arranged to follow the standard sequence of the course. But the order in which you read them can be changed to correspond with the textbook you are now using.

The module is divided into two lessons, namely: • Lesson 1 – Multimedia Formats in Interpreting Literary Text • Lesson 2 – Applying ICT Skills in Interpreting Literary Text

After going through this module, you are expected to: 1. demonstrate an understanding of the anecdote; 2. interpret the anecdote using appropriate multimedia format; 3. apply ICT skills in crafting an adaptation of a literary text; and 4. show an appreciation on the use of multimedia to creatively interpret a literary text.

What I Know

Directions: Choose the letter of the correct answer. Write the chosen letter on a separate sheet of paper. 1. Mind mapping is a tool used to visually organize information that helps us to analyze, synthesize, recall and ______new ideas. a. draw b. estimate c. evaluate d. generate 2. Which technique in making a movie is used to generate illusion of movement from many still images? a. animation b. designing c. video filming d. photography 3. This is a short Filipino poem that consists of 4 lines with 7-7-7-7- syllabic verse. a. awit b. haiku c. tanaga d. sonnet 4. Blog is the short term for ______. a. net blog b. web blog c. word blog d. internet blog 5. The following media forms are integrated in multimedia EXCEPT ______. a. text b. video c. computer d. animation 6. PowerPoint application is used to ______. a. design animations b. create slideshow presentations c. process and store digital presentations d. generate ideas from people thru mapping 7. Which wireless handheld device is used to make and receive calls and send text messages? a. laptop c. desktop b. cellphone d. camera

8. This electronic device is used for storing and processing data. a. printer b. android c. computer d. mobile phone 9. A tag cloud is also known as ______. a. web cloud b. text cloud c. word cloud d. digital cloud 10. Which software package is designed to create electronic presentations consisting of a series of separate pages? a. PowerPoint b. Mobile text tula c. Microsoft Excel d. Digital photography 11. This refers to an electronic medium for recording, copying, playing back, broadcasting, and displaying of moving visual media. a. audio b. video c. computer d. animation 12. Which of the following statements is TRUE? a. Multimedia use in learning is expensive. b. Multimedia solely uses graphics and animation. c. Learners are encouraged to use only one multimedia format. d. Integration of multimedia in studying literature enhances learner’s ICT skills. 13. The following are multimedia formats except ______. a. blog b. video c. paint d. tag cloud 14. It is used to describe any sound in terms of receiving, transmitting or reproducing its specific frequency. a. audio b. noise c. video d. frequency 15. If a learner desires to create informational discussion on web about people’s travel, interests, and experiences, he/she can create a ______. a. blog b. essay c. tag cloud d. mobile text tula

Lesson Multimedia Formats in 1 Interpreting Literary Text

How do you interpret literary texts? What methods and tools do you use in trying to understand the author, content, characters and message of a text? Have you used your mobile phone, laptop or computer in understanding and appreciating literary works of varied authors?

In the previous module, you have learned about how literary, biographical, linguistic and socio-cultural contexts enhance the text’s meaning and enrich the reader’s understanding. Specifically, how biographical context is used to understand the poem “Padre Faura Witnesses the Execution of Rizal”. In this module, you will be learning that close analysis and critical interpretations of literary texts could be done through the use of varied multimedia formats aside from understanding the contexts of a literary piece. But before you learn something new, try to do the activity below. Answer the following questions on a piece of paper.

1. Who authored the poem, “Padre Faura Witnesses the Execution of Rizal”? 2. What is a biography? 3. Which type of context is formed by the beliefs, experiences, education and culture of the author?

Notes to the Teacher What’s New The learners may use the transcript of the video on page 27 if they do not have access to it. You may also provide a downloaded copy of the video that students can store in their smartphones or memory sticks.

Watch the video of a group of students interpreting the song of Levi Celerio, “Ang Pipit.” Video link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPa0rjDtVMQ

After watching the video, answer the following questions:

1. What message does the lyricist, Levi Celerio, convey in his song?

2. How did the students interpret the song? 3. What media platform did the students use in interpreting the song?

Have you found studying literature more exciting with multimedia supports where you can actively and collaboratively build knowledge structures using technology? Evidently, most of the learners like you have realized the huge impact of the use of multimedia in studying literature. It provides opportunities for learners like you to construct and reconstruct your ideas in audio and visual formats. Through multimedia platforms, you can apply a wide range of strategies to understand, interpret and evaluate texts. Marshall (2001) defined multimedia as computer-controlled integration of text, graphics, drawings, still and moving images (video), animation, audio, and any other media where every type of information can be represented, stored, transmitted and processed digitally. Here are some of the multimedia formats that you can use to creatively interpret various genres of literary texts.

1. Blog or a “weblog” is a website containing informational articles about a person’s own opinions, interests and experiences. These are usually changed regularly (DepEd 2013, 9).

2. Mind mapping is a graphical technique to visualize connections of ideas and pieces of information. This tool structures information to better analyze, comprehend, synthesize, recall and generate new ideas. You can use Microsoft Word or online mind mapping tools in creating a mind map (Pasuello 2017).

3. Mobile phone text tula is a traditional Filipino poem. A particular example of this poem is a tanaga that consists of 4 lines with 7 syllables each with the same rhyme at the end of each line. (DepEd 2013, 8).

4. Slideshow presentation is created with the use of Microsoft PowerPoint. It contains series of pictures or pages of information (slides) arranged in sequence and often displayed on a large screen using a video projector (Computer Hope 2018).

5. Tag cloud is a visual, stylized arrangement of words or tags within a textual content such as websites, articles, speeches and databases (Techopedia 2020).

6. Video is an electronic device used to record, copy, playback, broadcast, and display moving visual media (Lexico 2020).

What’s More

Activity 1. Mind Mapping: Do the following instructions below. 1. Create a cluster map as shown below using Microsoft Word. 2. Write related concepts on multimedia formats used to interpret literary texts in the cluster map. 3. Write a brief explanation of the cluster map 4. Send your output to your teacher via messenger.

Notes to the Teacher You have the discretion to choose alternative multimedia platforms or ICT tools available in the locality to be used by the learners in performing the activities in this module.

Activity 2. Mobile Text tula: Do the following.

1. Read the transcriptions on page 27 or watch again the video clip, “Ang Pipit”, by Levi Celerio. 2. Create a mobile phone text tula reflecting your interpretation on the message of the song. 3. Send your output to your teacher via text messaging.

What I Have Learned

Directions: Reflect on what you have learned on the use of multimedia formats in interpreting literary texts. On your Facebook wall, post your thoughts on how multimedia makes studying literature more exciting and meaningful.

What I Can Do

Directions: 1. Read the poem, “Apo On the Wall” by Bj Patino. 2. Interview people about their experiences during the Martial Law. 3. Create a collage of photos using PowerPoint depicting the experiences of people during Martial Law. Write a brief description to your work.

Apo On the Wall

by Bj Patino There’s this man’s photo on the wall Of my father’s office at home, you Know, where father brings his work, Where he doesn’t look strange Still wearing his green uniform And colored breast plates, where, To prove that he works hard, he Also brought a photo of his boss Whom he calls Apo, so Apo could You know, hang around on the wall Behind him and look over his shoulders To make sure he’s snappy and all. Father snapped at me once, caught me Sneaking around his office at home Looking at the stuff on his wall- handguns, Plaques, a sword, medals a rifle- Told me that was no place for a boy Only men, when he didn’t really Have to tell me because, you know, That photo of Apo on the wall was already Looking at me around, His eyes following me like he was That scary Jesus in the hallway, saying I know what you’re doing.

Directions: Choose the letter of the correct answer. Write the chosen letter on a separate sheet of paper. 1. Which is of the following is NOT a multimedia format that a learner can use to interpret literary texts? a. blog b. slogan c. text tula d. tag cloud 2. Which Filipino poem consists of four lines with seven syllables each with the same rhyme at the end of each line? a. ode b. haiku c. tanaga d. corrido 3. It is an electronic medium for recording, copying, replaying, broadcasting and displaying of moving visual media. a. video b. tag cloud c. mind mapping d. PPT presentation 4. Which Microsoft Office application can a learner use to create a slideshow presentation? a. Word b. Excel c. Paint d. PowerPoint 5. Which of the statements is TRUE? a. All multimedia formats are hard to use. b. Multimedia uses animation and audio only. c. Learners can only make use of one multimedia format. d. Studying literature becomes more exciting due to multimedia supports. 6. It is a graphical way to represent ideas and concepts. a. tags b. video c. mind mapping d. mobile phone text tula 7. If a learner wishes to interpret the essay, “Where is the Patis?” of C. Guerrero-Nakpil by expressing his insights in order to elicit opinions of other people, he may create a ______. a. blog b. video c. text tula d. mind mapping

8. This refers to a visual, stylized method that represents the occurrence of words within a textual content of a website. a. video b. tag cloud c. music video d. slideshow presentation 9. Multimedia is a computer-controlled integration of many forms of media EXCEPT______. a. text b. video c. audio d. equipment 10. It is a website that contains short articles called posts that are updated regularly. a. blog b. tags c. slides d. message 11. It is a wireless handheld device that allows the users to make and receive calls and send text messages, among other features. a. laptop b. computer c. cellphone d. digital camera 12. Which is used to create a movie from still images? a. editing b. messaging c. animation d. multimedia 13. Slideshow presentation is a series of ______often displayed on a large screen using projector. a. tags b. words c. texts d. slides 14. This refers to a short traditional verse a. text tula b. haiku c. sonnet d. blogging 15. Which does NOT belong to the group? a. blog b. mind mapping c. PPT presentation d. Storyboard

Additional Activities

Directions: Create a character sketch of the persona’s father in the poem, “Apo On the Wall”. The character sketch must highlight the physical and behavioral attributes as described in the poem. Choose an appropriate multimedia format in creating a character sketch.

Directions: Choose the letter of the correct answer. Write the chosen letter on a separate sheet of paper.

1. What amusing story tells about a real incident that intends to impart a lesson? a. table . c. legend b. noble d. anecdote

2. When sharing an anecdote, what topic is best to talk about? a. career c. school activity b. dreams d. anything under the sun

3. Which of the following is NOT a purpose of an anecdote? a. to argue c. to reminisce b. to inspire d. to bring cheer

4. The following statements about anecdote are true EXCEPT______. a. An anecdote covers a variety of stories and tales. b. It a short story about a real person or event. c. Sharing an anecdote makes people laugh and ponder about the topic. d. People share an anecdote to deal with serious issues in the community.

5. If someone shares an anecdote that brightens the mood of people, he/she intends to______. a. caution c. reminisce b. persuade d. bring cheer

6. A father tells a story about his life in the province when he was still a young boy. What do you think is the purpose of the father in telling about his story? a. to inspire c. to reminisce b. to caution d. to bring cheer

7. Before presenting the lecture on teenage pregnancy, the speaker tells a story of a young girl who got pregnant. She explained about the implications of unplanned pregnancy to a teenage mom and her child. What is the purpose of the speaker in the given situation? a. persuade c. bring cheer b. reminisce d. give caution

8. Which of the following does NOT describe an anecdote? a. brief c. amusing b. serious d. interesting

9. Which of the following anecdotes intends to persuade readers? a. My little brother shares his experience on the first day of school. b. A learner shares her future plans after graduating from college. c. A mother tells about her epic experience at the Department Store while buying a dress to wear for the party. d. Before presenting his lecture on responsible parenting, the speaker shares about the experience of a mother learning about her son’s wish, a smart phone for his parents to play with him always.

10. “An anecdote is a story with a point.” What does the statement suggest? a. An anecdote is simple and brief. b. An anecdote discusses an issue. c. An anecdote reveals truth about life. d. An anecdote intends to provoke laughter.

11. If someone talks about his past and shares the joy of his experience, what does he/she intend to do? a. to cheer c. to persuade b. to caution d. to reminisce

12. In which story did John Jack Wigley share his insights and experience when Mt. Pinatubo erupted in 1991? a. Mt. Pinatubo b. On the Ashfall c. Home of the Ashfall d. My Hometown in the Ashfall

13. What emotion does the speaker evoke in his statement “Hell, I thought if there is a mountain near us which I imagined to erupt anytime, it would be the Arayat.” a. sadness c. surprised b. gladness d. confusion

14. What was the second largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th Century that affected densely populated areas? a. Mt. Apo c. Mt. Arayat b. Mt. Taal d. Mt. Pinatubo

15. When a speaker shares a personal story sympathizing with a struggle of a person to ease his feeling, the speaker intends to ______. a. inspires b. caution c. brings laughter d. share important personal story

Lesson Applying ICT Skills in 2 Interpreting Literary Texts

Have you applied computer programs and applications in doing school- related tasks like studying literature? What computer programs and applications have you used? Does using these ICT tools make your learning more meaningful and exciting?

In the previous lesson, you have learned about the multimedia formats that you can use to creatively understand and interpret a literary text. Lesson 2 will introduce you to an analysis of an anecdote with the use of multimedia in furtherance of your ICT skills. Before you learn something new, try to do the activity below.

Directions: Identify the type of multimedia format described in each of the statements below. Write your answer on a piece of paper. 1. This refers to a stylized method that represents the occurrence of words within a textual content such as websites, articles, speeches and databases. 2. It is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, replaying, broadcasting and displaying of moving visual media. 3. This is a website containing short articles called posts that are changed regularly. 4. These are series of slides, often displayed on a large screen using a projector. 5. It is a graphical way to represent ideas and concepts.

Directions: Study the picture below. Post on your Facebook wall a personal experience related to the picture below. Then, invite your FB friends to give their comments and to share their own experiences as well.

Have you read an anecdote? Have you ever retold a personal experience to someone? How do you find recalling past experiences?

We are fond of sharing humorous experiences in life to our family members and friends. We might not be aware that we are already sharing stories like anecdotes all day, every day. An anecdote is a short entertaining or interesting story about a real incident or person (Nagpal 2016). Anecdotes tell about a variety of stories and tales, since they can be about any topic under the sun. It is a short story about a real person or event which usually intends to make the listeners laugh or ponder over a topic (Your Dictionary 2020).

For example, if a group of learners tell about their favorite pets, and one learner shares a story about how his dog cuddles every time he comes home from school, then that learner has just imparted an anecdote. Let's look at how John Jack Wigley made use of anecdotes in his memoir “Home of the Ashfall”.

HOME OF THE ASHFALL (an excerpt)

by John Jack G. Wigley

The eruption of Mount Pinatubo was recorded as the second largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century, and the largest eruption populated area. Ash fall affected almost the entire island of Luzon, and even reached the neighboring countries of Malaysia and Vietnam. To the Kapampangans and to the people affected by this tragedy, it would serve as a testament to their irrepressible attribute of rising about their plight and predicament.

I was no longer living in Angeles City when Mt. Pinatubo erupted on June 15, 1991. I was promoted from being a crew member at Pizza Hut Dau to management trainee at Pizza Hut Harrison Plaza in December 1990. It was my first time to work in Manila. Ed Calupitan, a fellow Pizza Hut crew member now based in Manila, offered me a place to stay in his two-bedroom apartment.

Weeks before the eruption, I read several news and warnings about Mt. Pinatubo. Frankly, I never knew there was a volcano in the Zambales mountain range. Nobody among my Kapampangan friends did. I guess we were all clueless about the impending danger this world cause in our lives. Later on, I realized that the summit of the volcano was just fourteen kilometers away from the extent of Clark Air Base. I thought that volcanoes were conspicuous mountains and had fierce-looking summits like Mayen’s and Haicon’s. But this one was deeply hidden among several mountains called the “Cabusilan mountains” of Zambales.

Hell, I thought that if there was a mountain near us which I imagined would erupt anytime, it would be the Arayat, which was located at the heart of Pampanga, with its open mouth and forbidding countenance. Not this obscure mountain whose native inhabitants, the Aetas, never knew about. I paid no more attention to warnings.

I had only been to Manila for barely six months and was enjoying a new- found independence. I would sometimes go to Angeles City to see my mother during days off.

That fateful day, after my opening shift, I went to see a film. It was “Hihintayin Kita sa Langit”, a film adaptation of Bronte’s “Wuthering Heights” directed by Carlitos Siguion Reyna. The film starred erstwhile lovers played by Richard Gomez and Dawn Zulueta. I was feeling all mushy and melodramatic after watching the film when, once outside, I saw parked cars covered with what seemed like a whitish-gray blanket. And so were the streets.”Is it finally showing in Manila?” I thought, as I felt some of the particles in my hand and smudge my shirt. When I looked closely and touched them, they were grainy. It was like ash from an ashtray.

(Ermino 2017)

Let’s explore some of the purposes of anecdotes:

1. To Bring Cheer Stories pop up anywhere and these are just sometimes making people laugh to brighten their mood. Here is an example of an anecdote meant to look back on happy memories: • At the dinner, a Grade 11 learner shared his story on his first day at school when he got lost and attended a wrong class.

2. To Reminisce In most anecdotes, people are talking about their experiences in the past. They try to look back on moments in their lives and share the joy of that time with others. Here is an example of an anecdote with a hint of reminiscence: • A mother tells her children a story about her life in the province when she was teenager.

3. To Caution Sometimes, just giving rules for individuals is not effective. Sharing to them frightening stories of dangers can be helpful for them to realize the possible consequences of their actions. Here is an example of cautionary anecdote: • Before beginning a lecture on not following traffic rules, a father tells his son an incident of collision that caused many lives due to ignoring traffic signs.

4. To Persuade or Inspire Sometimes, people share stories on how they surpassed their struggles in life. These, most of the time, give encouragement to others who have been in similar situations. The message usually conveys successes in life as a fruit of hard work. Here is an example of an inspirational anecdote: • Before beginning a remedial class, the teacher tells the students how a boy who used to struggle in reading managed to be a proficient reader.

Notes to the Teacher What’s More You may ask the learners to use the transcribed conversations in the video Add space if the learner does not have any means between words to view it online. Please see attachment in this phrase on page 28. Activity 1

1. Watch the short video on YouTube entitled “Salbabida Story”. Video Link: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYNv32ZqwmQ)

2. Pick out some lines (at least three) wherein the speakers look back at some of their experiences like the example below:

“Kasi dati, nabubully ako sa school. Ang pumasok lang sa isip ko nun, gumanti. Siya (KB) yung tutulong sa ‘kin na makipagresbakan, and akala ko nun ano e, ‘makikipagbugbugan’ kami e, sapakan. Tinuruan ako ni KB kung paano maging Salbabida rin sa iba.”

3. After writing down some of the lines about their memories, compose your own interpretation of what you think the video is about. Write a text tula as a tribute to the people in the video and acknowledge their share in the society by helping other people.

Activity 2. Answer the following questions based on the video clip you have watched. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.

1. In the first part of the video, we are introduced to Efren Peñaflorida, 2009 CNN Hero of the Year. To whom does he compare his friend and mentor, KB Manalaysay? 2. What does he mean by this comparison? 3. What was Efren’s problem when KB met him? How was the latter able to help him? 4. How has KB’s simple act of kindness affected Efren? How was it able to affect not only Efren but many other kids like Kesz, for example? 5. What do you think is the message of the video? What lesson does it want to share to the viewers?

Directions: Reflect on what you have learned in using multimedia in interpreting literary texts. Post on your Facebook wall on how applying ICT skills makes you better appreciate studying anecdotes.

Directions: Read again the selection “Home of the Ashfall” written by John Jack Wigley. On your Facebook wall, share your own experiences during a calamity or disaster, including how you handled the situation. End your story with a slogan about the importance of disaster preparedness. Invite your FB friends to give comments on your post.

1. The author’s purpose of using anecdotes in his memoir “Home of the Ashfall” is to ______. a. bring cheer b. reminisce c. caution d. persuade 2. Most of the writers use anecdote to ______. a. tell a story b. deal with differences of opinions c. share helpful tips on making a living d. impart a lesson in an entertaining way 3. What someone talks about when he/she shares an anecdote? a. opinions b. personal experiences c. plans and dreams in life d. biography of other people 4. It is a brief, serious, amusing and interesting story. a. tale b. fable c. legend d. anecdote 5. “My mother tells about her epic experience at the department store while buying a dress to wear for the party” is an example of ______anecdote. a. cautionary b. motivational c. inspirational d. reminiscence 6. What J. J. Wigley tells about in the “Home of the Ashfall”? a. eruption of Mt. Pinatubo b. new found independence in Manila c. story of “Hihintayin Kita sa Langit” d. his journey to becoming management trainee 7. When someone talks about his/her past and shares the joy of his/her experience, he/she intends to ______. a. inspire b. caution c. reminisce d. bring cheer

8. An anecdote is a story with a point which means that______. a. it reveals an issue b. it is easy to understand c. it reveals truth about life d. it intends to provoke laughter 9. Which of the following statements about anecdote is TRUE? a. Anecdote is an unusual story. b. It presents complicated story plot. c. It deals with particular topic to talk about. d. Like other genres, it is interpreted in many ways. 10. What anecdote shares frightening stories of dangers that can be avoided by following regulations? a. motivation b. cautionary c. reminiscence d. entertainment 11. “I never knew there was a volcano in the Zambales mountain range. Nobody among my Kapampangan friends did.” What do these statements suggest? a. The speaker is clueless. b. The author is indifferent. c. The speaker is very busy at work. d. He is not mindful of his surroundings. 12. When someone shares his story to lighten people’s mood, he intends to ____. a. inspire b. enlighten c. reminisce d. bring cheer 13. Where is J. J. Wigley’s hometown? a. Tarlac b. Bataan c. Zambales d. Pampanga 14. What point of view did the author use in the “Home of the Ashfall”? a. first person b. omniscient c. third person d. second person 15. Which paragraph does J.J. Wigley express his strong conviction that Kapampangans can survive and once again alleviate their lives after the calamity? a. 1 b. 2 c. 4 d. 5

Additional Activity

Directions: Reflect on the message conveyed in John Jack Wigley’s“Home of the Ashfall”. Make a two-minute video using your mobile phone with the help of your classmates, friends, or family members. Show the lesson/s you have learned from the story. Do a self- assessment of your

presentation using the rubric below.

Score Description 5 Very great extent (VGE) 4 Great extent (GE) 3 Some extent (SE) 2 Little extent (LE) 1 Not at all (N)

Criteria VGE GE SE LE N 5 4 3 2 1 1. Uses audio / visual aids or media to clarify information 2. Presents relevant content based on the theme of the story 3. Shows considerable originality and inventiveness 4. Presents the ideas in a unique and interesting way TOTAL

What I Know What I Know Assessment

Lesson 1 Lesson 1 Lesson 1

1. B 1. D Activity 1. Answers may 2. C 2. A vary 3. A 3. C 4. D 4. B. 5. D 5. C Activity 2. Answers may 6. C 6. B vary 7. A 7. D 8. B 8. C 9. D 9. C Lesson 2 10. A 10. A Activity 1. Answers may 11. C 11. B vary 12. C 12. D 13. D 13. C 14. A 14. A Activity 2 15. D 15. A

1. Salbabida 2. A salbabida is a Lesson 2 Lesson 2 person who helps someone 1. D else. 1. A 2. D 3. He did not want 2. D 3. A. to go to school 3. B 4. D because he was 4. D 5. D being bullied. KB 5. D 6. C taught Efren to 6. A 7. D help others, too. 7. C 8. B 4. Efren was 8. C 9. D inspired and he 9. D 10. C helped others. 10.B 11. A They started 12. C 11.A “Kariton 13. C 12.D 14. D Klasrum”. 13.D 15. A 5. Everyone can be 14.A a salbabida and 15.A help others in need.

Benitez, Zildjian, “Ang Pipit.” Last uploaded April 13, 2016. Video, 4:09. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPa0rjDtVMQ

Computer Hope. “Slide show.” Last modified April 1, 2018. https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/s/slidesho.htm

DepEd. “SHS-Core 21st Century Literature of the Philippines and the World CG.” Last uploaded 2019. https://www.deped.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/SHS-Core_21st Century- Literature-from-the- Philippines-and-the-World-CG.pdf

Ermino, Liezel, “Home of the Ashfall”. Last uploaded June 28, 2017. https://www.scribd.com/document/352427772/Home-of-the-Ashfall

Lexico. “Meaning of video in English.” Accessed June 2, 2020. https://www.lexico.com/definition/video

Litemind. “What is Mind Mapping.” Accessed May 20, 2020. https://litemind.com/what-is- mind-mapping/

Maglione, Maria Grazia. “Teaching and Learning through Multimedia,” SlideShare. Uploaded 2009. https://www.slideshare.net/mg.maglione/teaching-and-learning-literature-through- multimedia-1223510

Marshall, Dave. “What is Multimedia?” Last modified October 4, 2001. https://users.cs.cf.ac.uk/Dave.Marshall/Multimedia/node10.html

Nagpal, Amit. 2016. “Anecdotes: Interesting incidents and stories from everyday life.” (web blog), Last modified June 29, 2016. https://community.nasscom.in/communities/sales-marketing/anecdotes- interesting-incidents-and-stories-from-everyday-life.html Penaflorida, Efren, “Salbabida”. Last uploaded July 12, 2014. Video, 5:28. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYNv32ZqwmQ

Sanchez, Louie Jon A., et.al. 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World. Quezon City : Vibal Group, Inc., 2016, 50-54. Techopedia. “Tag Cloud.” Accessed May 22, 2020. https://www.techopedia.com/definition/5200/tag-cloud

Uychoco, Marikit Tara A. 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World. Sampaloc, Manila: Rex Book Store Inc. ,2016, 11-13.

Victoria State Government; Education and Training. “Creating multimodal texts.” Uploaded 2019 at https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/ discipline/english/literacy/multimodal/Pages/createmultimodal.aspx Your Dictionary. “Examples of Anecdotes.” Accessed May 19, 2020. https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-anecdotes.html

Attachments Ang Pipit Lyrics - Philippine Folk Songs by: Levi Celerio May pumukol sa Pipit sa sanga ng ng isang kahoy At nahagip ng bato ang pakpak ng munting ibon Dahil sa sakit, di nakaya pang lumipad At ang nangyari ay nahulog ngunit parang taong bumigkas Mamang kay lupit, ang puso mo'y di na nahabag Pag pumanaw ang buhay ko, may isang pipit na iiyak (2x)

Texts on Video: “Ang Pipit” is a popular Filipino song about a bird that is known in Tagalog as a pipit. Many Filipinos don’t realize that it’s an English word too, so they force-translate the song’s title as “My Sparrow”. The pipit is a bird in the family Motacillidae.

The key signature of the song is in A minor.

Our group has decided to use instruments that are not commonly used.

Levi Celerio (April 20,1910 – April2, 2002) is a Filipino composer and lyricist. He received a scholarship to the Academy of Music in Manila and becomes the youngest member of the Manila Symphony Orchestra.

He wrote several numbers of songs for local movies, which earned him the Lifetime Achievement Award of the film Academy of the Philippines. Celerio has written for more than 4,000 Filipino folk, Christmas, and love songs including many that became movie titles.

Celerio is probably best recognized for being leaf-player, an achievement where he was place into the Guinness Book of World Records as the only man who could play music with a leaf. On October 9, 1997, he was proclaimed National Artist for Music and Literature. His citation read that his music “was a perfect embodiment of the heartfelt sentiments and valued traditions of the Filipino.”

He died at Delgado Clinic in Quezon City on April 2, 2002 at the age of 91.

He was awarded the title of the national artist for music and literature in 1997 by Philippine President Fidel Ramos who cited the prolific lyricist and composer for writing music that was a perfect embodiment of the heartfelt sentiments and valued traditions of the Filipino.

In this song, a bird has her wing injured by a rock thrown by a man, likely from a slingshot. The bird was so hurt, she couldn’t fly. Like a person she spoke up, “Oh cruel man. How pitiless your heart is? If I die, there is pipit bird who will cry.”

Considering how plaintively sad the theme and word are of this folk song, it’s slightly incongruous with contemporary sensibilities that most canonical interpretations of the melody, such as by Pilita Corales and the Mabuhay Singers, are very upbeat. It’s almost like gleefully making fun of a helpless creature in deep throes of pain.

The Pipit is a metaphorical representation of how our country gets abused and abandoned. Performers: Students of De La Salle College of St.Benilde

Zildjian Benitez (vocals); Tim Marquez (guitarist);

Diana Mapa (percussions)

Date performed: April 3, 2016

Location: Grand Tower

Instruments: Vitamin C case; shoes; wall; acoustic guitar, clap, cabinet

Source: https://tagalong.com/ang-pipit-bird/

Salbabida Story

Efren: Ako ay si Efren Peñaflorida at sila Keszat KB ako ay naniniwalang lahat ng tao ay pwedeng maging salbabida kase ang taong sumalba sakin, yung taong tumulong sakin ay si KB. KB: Dahil sa Cavite City maraming mga bata na sasadlak sila sa mga gang.Marami silang nabibiktima at kinakatandaan na nila yun so naging posisyon ko natulungan yung mga bata, nagkakaroon ng mga problema sa pag-aaral. Doon ko nakilala si Efren at Nakita ko na malaki ang binubunong problema dahil ayaw na nya mag- aral. Efren: Kasi dati binubully ako sa school, ang pumasok sa isip ko ay gumanti. Siya yung tutulong sa kin na makipagresbakan. Ang akala ko nun ano eh makikipagbugbugan kami eh, sapakan pero sabi nya ibang paraan yung gagawin nya. Tinuran ako ni KB na kung paano maging salbabida rin sa iba, maramina sa kin tumatawag na kuya Efren, isa na nga dun si Kesz.

Kesz: Nakatira po ako sa isang dumpsite sa Cavite City po. Bale po Ang ginagawa ko ay nangangalahig po ako ng basura po at namalimos din po ako pera sa palengke po.

Efren: Actually ,dilang ako nakatagpo,kasama ko nun si KB, kaming dalawa. Nakita naming si Kesz na natutulog sa harapan ng convenient store. Nagkaroon ako ng compassion, si KB na tulungan si Kesz. Kasi ano eh, sinisipa-sipa siya nung mga dumadaan, tapos puro sugat pa yung ulo nya tapos wala syang damit. Ilan taon ka nun Kesz?

Kesz: Four... Four years old po mga gnun po.

EP: Si KB yung nagbigay ng ano, nagbigay ng unang tulong sa kanya. Efren: Ang process nung Kariton Klasrum ano,dinadala naming yung Kariton dun sa community tapos sa tulong din ng mga grupo nila Kesz, kasi si Keszmeron na siyang sariling grupo eh. Actually, nag volunteer siya samin, when he was six years old, bata pa siya nun.

KB: Sabi nyanganun,"Magaling naman po ako magwash ng hands Tsaka magbrush ng teeth”. Sabi ko Efren bakit di natin kunin tong Hygiene Demonstrator highly effective brushing of the teeth kasi nakakarelate yung mga children kasi kilala nila si Kesz kasi he was one of them. EP: Ahh nung una kaming nagtulak ng kariton,talagang ano, Maraming negative reactions yung mga narereceive namin. Talagang minumura kami sa kalye, tapos pinagtatawanan kami. Binabato kami, so hindi maganda yung pagtanggap sa amin. KB: Hindi dapat kinakahiya ang isang bagay na tama.

Efren: Sabi nga ni KB ah,pagnagtutulak kayo ng kariton wag kayong Yuyuko ahhh kasi kung kinakahiya nyo yan baka mabangga kayo pag nakayuko kayo. Tapos nung pumasok itong CNN Hero. Turn around talaga yung reaction, maraming nasiyahan, maraming nag-approve. Sabi naman sa min ni KB nun "Oh yan na ah kilala na yung mga ginagawa nyo sikat na kayo, maraming kumikilala sa inyo nawag naman kayong magtutulak ng kariton na nakataas ang noo. Just continue kung ano yung ginagawa mong mabuti".

KB: Pagtulong hindi naman costly eh,lalo na pag simpleng pag-angat Lang kailangan ng mga tao. May mga bagay na pwede kang itulong sa kanila na di ka naman kailangang umastong malaki. If there is a need, you have to do something. So, whenever you see them, kumilos na.

Efren: So, eight years old nagsolo na si Kesz. Meron na siyang sariling organization.

Kesz: Ang ginagawa po namin ay nagtuturo kami sa mga bata po na nas a mahihirap na communities po.

Efren: Kahit bata sila, meron silang magagawa, kasi ganun din Yung pinaramdam sa min ni KB nun na do not let anyone look down on because you are young.

For inquiries or feedback, please write or call:

Department of Education - Bureau of Learning Resources (DepEd-BLR)

Ground Floor, Bonifacio Bldg., DepEd Complex Meralco Avenue, Pasig City, Philippines 1600

Telefax: (632) 8634-1072; 8634-1054; 8631-4985

Email Address: [email protected] * [email protected]

How to Write a Creative Brief in 11 Simple Steps [Examples + Template]

Updated: April 27, 2023

Published: April 26, 2023

The first step in any successful project is drawing up a game plan with a clear objective. It's one of the reasons marketers love creative briefs.

A creative brief acts as a roadmap that takes a project from ideation to completion. It ensures the scope, timeline, key stakeholders, and purpose of the project are communicated clearly. The creative brief is the single source of truth for everyone working on a project. If questions come up or tasks become unclear, the creative brief will steer things in the right direction.

What is a creative brief?

A creative brief is a short document that sums up marketing, advertising, or design project mission, goals, challenges, demographics, messaging, and other key details. It's often created by a consultant or a creative project manager. The goal of a brief is to achieve stakeholder alignment on a project before it begins.

The Purpose of a Creative Brief

Whether you’re a consultant pitching a creative brief to a client, or a project manager presenting a brief to your team, start by speaking with the project stakeholders. These discussions will help you understand the company's mission, project goals, and challenges your team faces. Then, you’ll have enough information to write a compelling brief that focuses on what’s really important to your company or client.

The idea of a creative brief sounds simple, but it can be hard to wrap a lot of important details into just a few pages. Therefore, a creative brief is typically comprised of eight sections that can fit on one to two pages.

Free Creative Brief Templates

Three customizable templates designed to serve as the blueprint for your next campaign.

• Campaign brief template.
• Video brief template.
• Client brief template.

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

How a Creative Brief Works

Creative briefs are pretty standard documents within just about every marketing, advertising, or design team. For smaller projects that live in-house (like designs, templates, marketing assets, etc.) the brief is owned by the team who will be executing on the information in the brief. This is usually the creative team, but this team can fall within the brand department or even live within marketing.

For more advanced, long-term projects that involve an agency, the creative brief is owned by the creative team or agency who will be executing the work. This is because they'll work closely with the stakeholders on the project to understand what is needed, plus they'll bring their own expertise and competitive research to the brief that the internal team may not have access to.

These types of creative briefs aren't rare, but they are created infrequently due to the nature of the projects they support. So for this post, we'll focus mostly on the day-to-day creative briefs that you're likely to use often. Here's how they work.

Creative Brief Outline

• Project Name
• Company Background
• Project Objective
• Target Audience
• Competitors
• Key Message
• Key Consumer Benefit
• Call to Action
• Distribution

Step 1. The teams who need assistance from the creative team will retrieve the creative brief template from a repository like OneDrive, Google Drive, or an online form.

Step 2. The team that is requesting the project will complete the brief according to their team's needs and goals. The completion of the creative brief starts with the team requesting the project so that they can explain their vision and goals clearly to the creative team.

Step 3. From there, the brief is sent back to the creative team to review. They'll be looking for timelines, resources, and budget requirements.

Step 4. If they have any questions, they'll go back to the team who wrote the brief and finalize the details.

Step 5. After that, the project is kicked off, sometimes with the help of a project manager, who will check-in with stakeholders on the project and keep everything on schedule, within scope, and within budget.

Step 6. Once the project is complete, both teams will review the deliverables against the creative brief to ensure everything is completed correctly.

The format of every company's creative brief might vary slightly to suit the needs of the project or client. Below is a simple outline that will be the foundation of your creative brief. It includes the most important steps in the creative process and information that'll be relevant to stakeholders involved in the project.

Once you’re fully informed and ready to write, use the following steps to draft yours. To make it even easier, I've included a fill-in-the-blank template in the last step.

How to Write a Creative Brief

• Decide on a name for the project.
• Write about the brand and summarize the project’s background.
• Highlight the project objective.
• Describe the target audience.
• Interpret the competitive landscape.
• Prepare the key message.
• Choose the key consumer benefit.
• Select an attitude.
• Determine the best call to action.
• Draft the distribution plan.
• Share the creative brief with stakeholders.

1. Decide on a name for the project.

The first step in developing a creative brief is deciding on a project name. This might sound simple, but it's one of the most critical components of a creative brief. If you're building a campaign around a brand new product or service, the campaign name will be the first time many members of your team will be introduced to it. Referring to the campaign (and therefore product or service) by the correct name prevents the game of telephone from happening. Without a specific and clear campaign name, people will make up their own terminology which can alter the intent of the campaign .

To create a project or campaign name for your creative brief, keep it creative and brief. A few words or a short sentence should work just fine. If you're launching a product, identify what the call to action will be for the target audience, then center the name around that. Here are a few examples of fictional campaign names:

• The Search for Adventure Campaign- A scavenger hunt-themed amusement park.
• The Don't Forget Your Memories Campaign - A photo frame company.
• The "What's hotter than Pepperco hot sauce?" Campaign - A hot sauce brand.

2. Write about the brand and summarize the project’s background.

Another simple, yet essential section is the company background. If you work in an agency setting, this is non-negotiable as your team is likely handling several client campaigns at once. However, if you're developing a creative brief for an in-house project, you'll still want to include this part. New hires on your team, freelancers, and vendors will appreciate the background that your internal team is already privy to.

The company background shouldn't be a general history of the company or a copied and pasted paragraph from the about page. Instead, tailor this to the project at hand. Set the scene with one or two sentences that sum up the brand’s mission. Follow this with a few sentences that give background on the brand and what led to the development of the project.

While some creatives have put this information all together in a quick paragraph, others separate it with headers like “Brand Statement” and “Background.”

Here are some questions to consider when writing a company background for your creative brief:

• Has the company launched a campaign like this before?
• Why is the company choosing to launch this campaign right now?
• What's happening in the market and how will this campaign respond to it?

3. Highlight the project objective.

Here is where the creative brief gets more specific. The project objective should briefly explain the purpose of the project, the timeline, and the audience it'll target. This can be done in a sentence or two, but you can get creative and stylize it in sections.

This part of the creative brief will be helpful in emphasizing why the project needs to happen. The goal aspects will help you and your team align on the project’s expectations. If the company or client hasn’t identified any major challenges, you can focus this section on goals and objectives. Explain what a successful project looks like and how it will benefit the company.

Pro Tip: Writing a project objective is very similar to writing a goal, so take a look at this blog post for more detail on goal and objective writing.

Here’s an example of a sample creative brief for PayPal that offers separate sections for “The Problem” and “The Goal”:

4. Describe the target audience.

Next, it's time to define the target audience for the project. This is the segment of your market that will directly benefit from the product or service being launched. You can take audience segmentation a step further by identifying a primary and secondary audience. Doing so will give your team more freedom to explore creative ideas that might resonate with one group more than the other.

When crafting the target audience section, be sure to include the following:

• Demographics - Simple demographic information gives your team insight into exactly who the audience is. This includes data points like age, income, education, ethnicity, and occupation.
• Behaviors - Buying behaviors, trends, and other customer history make up the target audience behaviors. These provide important context to the creative brief because they explain where the customer is in their buyer journey.
• Psychographics - This is how the audience thinks and feels about your brand and the product or service you sell, in general.
• Geographics - Digital, physical, and hybrid campaigns will benefit from having geographics stated explicitly in the creative brief so that media buyers can price ad slots in each market.

Pro Tip: Your creative brief shouldn't be too long, and this section can take up quite a bit of space. To make this section more digestible, consider using buyer personas .

Here’s how the sample brief for PayPal noted above thoughtfully explains a new product’s target audience:

5. Interpret the competitive landscape.

Knowing what your competitors are doing is advantageous for the whole team. You can use competitive data to come up with ideas that haven’t been tried yet, learn from their failed projects, or build a project that improves on a strategy they’ve used in the past.

Include a quick list of competitors with similar product or service offerings. Briefly list a few things your company has in common with them, how your brand has differentiated itself already, and a few areas where this project can help you get ahead.Get Your Free Templates

6. Prepare the key message.

The key message can be the most difficult part of the creative brief to develop because just about every stakeholder will have a different opinion of what it should be. To get buy-in faster, try this simple trick. Ask yourself "We're launching this project, so what?" The "so what?" is your key message. It explains why your target audience should stop what they're doing and pay attention to your campaign.

The key message includes the pain point, what the audience's experience might be like without the pain point, and the benefit they'll receive as a result of your company's solution. This framework places the customer in the spotlight of the campaign. Instead of telling them what this product or service could do for them, it positions them as the main character in the journey from problem to solution.

7. Choose the key consumer benefit.

If you're launching a new product, there are likely several features and benefits that the target audience will experience when they decide to purchase it. However, it's very difficult to structure a campaign around several different features. That's why marketers and creatives use something called a key consumer benefit (KCB) in the creative brief to keep everyone aligned on the primary benefit being communicated. To choose the right KCB, you'll want to get input from the project stakeholders and rely on consumer data to guide the decision.

Pro Tip: Your KCB won't always be the fanciest feature of your product. The benefit that solves the biggest problem for your audience is a great choice for the KCB.

8. Select an attitude.

The tone and voice of your campaign create the overall attitude and that should be consistent throughout every creative element that's being developed. Identifying a few adjectives that describe the attitude of the campaign can help copywriters draft copy that sends the correct message within the right context. Graphic designers can use colors and techniques to portray the tone and voice as well.

In this section of the brief, you should also note the appropriate voice for your audience. While some audiences, like those in the business world, prefer more formal language, others might engage more with a casual, relatable tone. To substantiate your decision to choose a particular brand voice and tone, you could write something like, “Our brand voice is a casual and carefree tone because it speaks to younger Gen-Z audiences.”

Pro tip: Use a thesaurus to find specific words that evoke nuanced emotions and attitudes for a hyper-targeted campaign.

9. Determine the best call to action.

Finally, your audience needs something to do once they see your campaign. The good thing about CTAs is that they don't have to be physical actions. A CTA could have a goal to change thoughts and perceptions about your brand which doesn't require the audience to do anything at all.

Your creative brief might include several different CTAs, especially if you have a primary and secondary target audience. But it's a good idea to have one primary CTA that drives the project objective we talked about earlier.

10. Draft the distribution plan.

When the project is done, you’ll need to make sure your audience actually sees it. List a few channels or platforms on which you plan to announce the launch, as well as any promotional content you plan to create.

When drafting this section, think about your target audience. Don’t waste time on a promotional strategy that they won’t see. For example, if you’re promoting a project to Gen-Z, you’ll want to invest in social media rather than billboards or newspaper ads.

11. Share the creative brief with stakeholders.

Once you’ve drafted a creative brief, share it with the team you’ll be working with. You’ll also want to circulate it around the company via Slack, email, or presentations. If you’re a consultant working outside of a client’s company, encourage your clients to share the brief internally.

As you or your clients spread awareness, you should be open to answering questions or taking feedback from colleagues in case they have any great ideas. This strategy will improve team alignment , increase support of the project, and ensure that all of your colleagues are on the same page.

Follow Along with HubSpot's Free Creative Brief Templates

Download Now

Creative Brief Template

Having trouble with the flow and organization of your brief? Here’s a simple template that could help. Copy and paste it into a document and fill in the blanks. You can also add to it or adjust it as needed for your project.

Download More Creative Brief Templates

[Inset company or client logo at the top along with the project name.]

COMPANY BACKGROUND:

For ___ years, ______ [Brand Name] has been serving customers in the ____________ [group/job field/geographical area] with ____________________ [product or service].

[Brand Name] has made achievements including __________,__________, and ___________. We have also launched marketing campaigns that have touched on ____________,________, and ____________. With the launch of _________ [project name] they hope to ___________.

PROJECT OBJECTIVE:

With this project, the company aims to solve problems related to ____________________, while also expanding on ___________ and improving on _____________.

TARGET AUDIENCE:

Our target audience is ____ [gender], in the age range of _ and _, and live areas like ____, _____, and ______. They enjoy _____, dislike ______, and might work in fields like _____, _____, and _____. They want more of ________ and their daily pain points include ________.

Their favorite products might include _______ and ______. They learn about these products through channels including ________, _________, and _______.

COMPETITORS:

Our three biggest competitors [are/will be] ________, ________, and _______. These competitors offer _____, ______, and ______. We are ahead of them in _____ and ______, but we are behind when it comes to product offerings like __________ and _________.

KEY MESSAGE:

The target audience is experiencing __________ [pain point], but with our newest project ___________, they'll get to experience _________ [new experience without the pain point]. That's what makes ______ [solution] an unrivaled solution within the market.

KEY CONSUMER BENEFIT:

________ [feature] is the best way for our target audience to experience _____ [benefit].

[Include three to five adjectives that describe the tone and voice of the project.]

CALL TO ACTION:

When the target audience sees our campaign, they will [feel/think/do] _________.

DISTRIBUTION:

We will promote the launch on platforms and channels that our demographic regularly engages with. These will include ________, ________, and _______.

We will also release content including _______, _______, and ________ to gain attention from our audience and inform them of the project.

Below are a few messages we will use:

• _________________________________________________.

Types of Creative Briefs

Creative briefs serve several purposes in the communications field. Marketers, designers, and advertisers use them differently. Depending on your role, your team, and the project you're working on, one might be more effective than the other. Below are some of the most common types of creative briefs used across industries today plus examples of what they might look like.

1. Marketing Creative Briefs

A marketing creative brief is most commonly used to bring campaigns to market. This type of creative brief can be used for both new and existing campaigns. Broad business goals and strategies to accomplish them are usually included in this type of creative brief. It's also not uncommon to see revenue goals and a budget included in a marketing creative brief.

Simple Marketing Creative Brief Example

2. Product Design Creative Briefs

Product design creative briefs outline the go-to-market strategy for a new product or feature launch. Product marketers are responsible for developing this type of brief. Developed in conjunction with the product manager, the product design creative brief will describe the features and benefits of the product and how the audience will benefit from them. Unique features of this type of creative brief include product documentation and product descriptions.

Product Design Creative Brief Example

3. Advertising Agency Creative Briefs

Advertising agencies develop creative briefs often for the various clients they serve. These briefs are concise and include the client's brand guidelines as well as the specific project guidelines. A budget may also be included in the brief so that all teams can make wise decisions about the tactics they recommend for the client. An account manager or supervisor develops the creative brief and shares it with client stakeholders before the agency begins working on the project.

Advertising Agency Creative Brief Example

Creative Brief Examples

1. creative request template.

For the day-to-day management of creative projects, using a creative request template in Asana acts as a dynamic take on a traditionally static creative brief. With a few tweaks to suit your business's needs, this template flows through each stage of the project while specifying tasks, deliverables, and key points that need to be included in the project. Moreover, Asana provides several types of views that make this template easy to look at from a calendar view, list view, board view, and timeline view so you'll always know the progress of your project in relation to the creative brief.

When to Use This Creative Brief:

This creative brief example is great for marketing, brand, creative, and design teams who handle a large backlog of projects with stakeholders on many different teams. Use this brief for both ad-hoc and regularly occurring projects.

2. Creative Brief Presentation Template

This creative brief example was designed by TemplateForest. It's a visual-forward example of a brief that works well for long-term projects like building a business or refreshing a brand. This longer brief includes a variety of information from internal brand insights to an external competitive analysis.

Use this creative brief when you're partnering with a creative agency on bigger projects. They can use this layout to inspire a creative brief that fits the needs of your business.

Streamline Projects with a Creative Brief

Scope creep happens to the best of us. Projects get bigger, stakeholders are added, and the objective of the project seems to morph as time goes on. Streamline your next product launch or marketing and advertising campaign with a creative brief. As a result, you'll find that your team is more aligned with the project's goals. We've even provided free creative brief templates to get you started — download them below.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in July 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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I magine this: You’re an architect designing a grand skyscraper. But instead of a blueprint, all you have are vague ideas and hazy specifications. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, right? Now, let’s apply this scenario to the world of marketing and advertising. Here, our skyscraper is your campaign, and the blueprint? That’s your creative brief.

But just like any blueprint, a creative brief is more than a piece of paper—it’s a vital tool that can make or break a campaign. In the following sections, we’ll explore the importance of a creative brief, its key components, and how it sets the stage for a memorable and impactful campaign.

What is a Creative Brief for Creatives?

First, let’s define a creative brief.

A creative brief is a roadmap that ensures everyone involved — from copywriters to graphic designers, from marketing strategists to social media managers — knows exactly where they're headed, what they're building, and why they're building it.

Let's begin by looking at the definition of a creative brief.

CREATIVE BRIEF DEFINITION

What is a creative brief.

A creative brief is a strategic plan, or blueprint, that provides a clear understanding of a marketing or advertising campaign’s goals, audience, and expected outcomes. It's a comprehensive document that outlines the project's key elements, such as the campaign’s objectives, target audience characteristics, brand positioning, key messages, and deliverables. 

It acts as a guiding light for all creative individuals involved in the project, providing a clear direction and helping to keep everyone on the same page. In essence, a creative brief ensures that all creative solutions align with the project's strategic goals and objectives.

What is a Creative Brief Used For?

• Guiding creative project direction
• Aligning team on objectives
• Establishing clear audience understanding
• Ensuring consistent branding/message deliverance

The Importance of a Creative Brief

Imagine setting off on a journey without a map, or trying to assemble a puzzle without seeing the picture on the box. That's what embarking on a creative project without a brief is like.

Why is it important exactly? This video breaks down how creative briefs are used and why they are important for creatives. 

Intro to Creative Briefs  •  What they are and how Creatives can use them

Clarity and direction: your creative north star.

A creative brief is the cornerstone of any successful campaign, providing a roadmap for all team members to follow. Without it, there's a risk of miscommunication and confusion, leading to fragmented solutions that lack unity and coherence. 

A well-constructed creative brief establishes a clear direction from the get-go, setting the tone for the project and ensuring everyone is on the same page.

Efficiency and Time Management: Your Route to Streamlined Execution

A creative brief helps streamline the entire creative process, making it more efficient and time-saving. By establishing clear objectives, target audience, and key messages from the get-go, it avoids miscommunication and unnecessary back-and-forth between team members. This allows for a smoother execution of tasks, saving both time and resources.

The Role in Measuring Success: Your Yardstick for Achievement

Lastly, a creative brief serves as a benchmark against which the success of a project can be measured.

It outlines the objectives and deliverables, providing a clear yardstick to evaluate whether the end product has hit its mark or fallen short.  

This is vital for future campaigns, as it allows for a better understanding of what worked and what could be improved upon in the future.

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• A Step by Step Guide to Making a Moodboard →
• Commercial Storyboard Examples and Techniques →

What is a Creative Brief Made Of?

Key components of a creative brief.

Now that we've grasped the significance of a creative brief, let's dive into its key components. These components are crucial in crafting a thorough and impactful brief that lays the foundation for a successful project. 

How To Write A Creative Brief? Example Seamless Campaign

As we analyze the components to a great creative brief, let's apply them to a specific example. We'll call this spec creative brief The Great Outdoors: An Adventure Gear Campaign .

Objectives: The Foundation of Your Campaign

The objectives are the starting point of your creative brief. They define what you want to achieve with your campaign and provide a clear direction for all creative solutions. These should be specific, measurable, and tied to overall business goals.

"Our goal is to create an engaging, visually compelling campaign that positions our brand as the go-to choice for outdoor enthusiasts. We aim to increase brand awareness by 30% and boost sales by 20% over the next quarter."

Target Audience: Knowing Who You're Speaking To

Understanding your target audience is crucial for any campaign's success. The brief should include a detailed description of the target audience, including demographic information, psychographic traits, and any other relevant characteristics that will inform creative decisions.

"We're speaking to adventurers aged 25-45, both male and female, who love to explore the great outdoors. They value quality, durability, and functionality in their gear. They are eco-conscious and prefer brands that align with their environmental values."

Brand Positioning: Staying True to Your Identity

A brand's positioning is what sets it apart from its competitors. It defines the unique value proposition and personality of the brand and should be clearly stated in the creative brief. This will ensure that all creative solutions are aligned with the brand's identity.

Example: 

"Imagine this: you're standing at the edge of a forest, a vast wilderness stretching out before you. You're not just a visitor here - you're part of it, connected to the earth beneath your feet and the sky above. That's the feeling we want our brand to evoke.

We're not just selling outdoor gear; we're selling the promise of adventure, the thrill of exploration, the serenity of nature. Our products are more than mere tools — they're companions on a journey, reliable and rugged, ready to face whatever challenges the wild throws your way.

We position ourselves as the brand of choice for the fearless explorers, the weekend warriors, the lovers of the great outdoors. We understand your passion because it's our passion too. And we're here to ensure that nothing comes between you and your next adventure."

Key Messages: Communicating Effectively

Key messages are the main points you want your audience to take away from your campaign. They should be concise, memorable, and aligned with the objectives and brand positioning.

Example: "Embrace your wild side with gear that's as tough and ready for adventure as you are. Our products are not just tools, but companions in your quest to explore the great outdoors."

Deliverables: The End Goal

The deliverables are the final outputs of your campaign. These should be clearly stated in the brief, along with any specifications or requirements.

• A series of social media posts showcasing our products in action.
• A short promotional video for web and television.
• Print ads for outdoor and lifestyle magazines.
• Email marketing campaign targeting existing customers and leads.

Timeline and Budget: Keeping Things on Track

A creative brief should also include a timeline and budget for the project. This will help keep things on track and ensure that all team members are aware of deadlines and constraints.

• Kick-off meeting: January 1, 2024
• Initial concepts due: January 15, 2024
• Final drafts due: February 1, 2024
• Campaign launch: March 1, 2024

The total budget for this campaign is $200,000. This includes creative development, production costs , media buying, and analytics tracking.

There you have it, a simple yet comprehensive creative brief outline. Remember, the more detailed and specific your creative brief is, the better equipped your team will be to deliver impactful and effective solutions.

How to Write a Creative Brief

Tips for crafting a creative brief.

Crafting a creative brief is an essential step towards creating a successful campaign. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

• Involve all stakeholders in the process to ensure everyone's input and perspective is considered.
• Keep it concise and to the point. A brief should be easy to understand and provide a clear direction without being overwhelming.
• Be specific and avoid vague language or generalizations. This will help avoid misinterpretations and ensure everyone is on the same page.
• Continuously refer back to the objectives, keeping them at the forefront of all creative solutions.

A creative brief is more than just a document — it's a crucial tool for successful marketing and advertising campaigns. By providing clarity, efficiency, and a measurement of success, it sets the foundation for impactful and effective creative solutions. Remember to include all key components and follow these tips when crafting your next brief, and you'll be well on your way to creating a winning campaign.  

What is a Mood Board?

Another essential tool in the creative process is the mood board.  This visual representation of the desired aesthetic, tone, and messaging can serve as a guiding light for all creative decisions. Learn more in our next article.

Up Next: Mood Boards Explained →

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How to Write an Artist Statement - All you Need to Know

Your artist's statement is your chance to talk not just through your art but about your art. You can use your artist's statement to reveal the concepts, philosophy, themes and ideas behind your artwork and this useful guide will tell you how!

What is an Artist Statement? 

 An artist's statement is as important as an artist's work. Simply put, the artist statement is a brief description of your artworks that shapes the viewers' perspective when they are looking at your art.

Think of it as your substitute when you are not present to answer questions related to your art. Art is subjective. People will look at your craft and evaluate it. So, it helps if you communicate your story to the viewer. Viewers often have questions about the art they are looking at. An effective artist statement answers those questions while you are not there.

Writing an artist statement should ideally be natural and free flowing because essentially, you are expressing your own story. However, it can seem challenging to put one together. 

Creative professionals write artist statements as part of their online portfolio. An online portfolio acts as your professional address and launchpad to find work opportunities and recognition. Artist statements go hand-in-hand with a online portfolio website . A website helps you gain credibility and legitimacy. Take a look at some great examples of artist portfolio websites .

Create your artist portfolio website  on Pixpa within minutes without any coding. Start your free trial. No credit card required .

Given below are a few valuable tips from professional essay writers that will help you to write a clear, concise, and compelling artist statement.   Here are stunning  great tattoo artist portfolio website examples  designed for your use. 

How to write an artist statement – The structure

Your artist statement is about YOU. So you must make it personal. Writing an artist statement is also an exercise for you to clarify your ideas about your work. 

• What is the intent and purpose of your art?
• What does it say about you as an artist?
• What keeps you motivated every day?
• What is your artist story?
• What questions are you often asked about your work?
• Who is your audience

You must establish the connection between what you are creating as an artist, and why are you doing it. How are you expressing your ideas with the medium of your choice?

Your artist statement is an introduction to your work and should be no more than 100 -150 words. The opening sentence should be distinct and captivating and draw the readers in. Begin with a short paragraph about the basic premise behind your work, artistic style, and vision. What do you want to say with your art? What is it that makes your work unique? What inspires you? What makes you stand out from the rest of the artists working in your space? 

Be honest about your work. Avoid repetition of words. Use simple language and short sentences that draw attention to, and illustrate your ideas to your audience 

The next paragraph should be a concise expression of the type of work presented and the artistic process. Describe your job, your favorite colors, and your technique as an. As a photographer, explain your work from a creative and technical standpoint.

An artist statement can be a full-page statement or a short statement, only focusing on your current project.

In a full-page artist statement, do remember to include the following:

• The reason behind creating your work and its history
• Overall vision
• The context of your work -Medium, artistic process, technique, and influences. Highlight what materials you work with and your sources and inspiration
• The expectations of your audience and how they perceive your work
• Your current work’s relation to your previous projects
• How your work fits with current contemporary art practice

Tip: While writing, do remember that you should avoid exaggerated statements and avoid pretentiously grand terms like 'the only one' or the 'best.'

Where is an artist statement used?

Remember, an artist statement complements your bio or resume.  It is an opportunity to help the reader envision your work before actually seeing it, and present a picture of who you are as an artist. 

Here are a few places where you may need to submit your artist statement:

• To a gallery owner or curator who needs details about your work.
• To a competitive event or an artist collective.
• When applying to graduate school
• When applying for grants or art scholarships
• When applying for a teaching position.
• To a reviewer who is writing about your work for a magazine or catalog.
• As an introduction to your creative work for potential buyers.

Along with your portfolio of works, you must have an artist statement ready at all times. It is the first point of communication between you as an artist and the viewer.

Examples of famous artist statements

Here are some artist statement examples that you can get inspired from:

Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe, silkscreen print

"I long for the old days of Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn, stars who had real glamour and mystique. We only knew so much about their lives; the rest was a mystery… My fascination with letting images repeat and repeat – or in a film's case 'run on' – manifests my belief is that we spend much of our lives seeing without observing."

Leonardo da Vinci, Salvator Mundi. Wikipedia

"The beginnings and ends of shadow lie between the light and darkness and may be infinitely diminished and infinitely increased. Shadow is the means by which bodies display their form. The forms of bodies could not be understood in detail but for shadow."

Painting by Berthe Morisot

"It is important to express oneself… provided the feelings are real and are taken from your own experience… My ambition is limited to capturing something transient, and yet, this ambition is excessive."

From any of the sample artist statements above, you can understand that conveying the purpose of your art and your philosophy towards it is important.

Check out these great examples of  artist portfolio websites  for your inspiration and further examples of artist statements.

Tips for writing a compelling artist statement:

1. share the inspiration behind your art.

One of the best ways to introduce your art to the viewers is to write about the inspiration behind it. This lays a foundation before you begin to explain your artwork to your viewers. Inspiration can be a daily phenomenon or a particular incident. Regardless, explain it in as simple words as you can. This act accomplishes the principal goal of connecting with the viewer. Not doing so leaves a viewer unconnected, especially if it's abstract art. Without it, your art is a splash of multiple colors on canvas with nothing to make of it.

2. Shape the viewer's perspective

The next important thing to do when you write an artist statement is to explain your art in words that would shape the perspective of viewers. Your art is your viewpoint, and one can easily misunderstand it. To ensure that you and the viewer are on the same page, add a line or two to explain your art. But, restrain from divulging all the details about your work. Try to leave a little room for curiosity such that the viewer is bound to further inquire about your art.

3. Keep the artist statement as small as possible

If you are wondering how long should your artist statement be, then you should know that lengthy biographies drain viewers, especially when they are out to see beautiful art. A lot of fancy words make a statement boring and challenging to comprehend. A long-winded explanation makes the work appear insecure.

Some of the best artist statements are under 100 words. A rule of thumb that you can follow here is - the shorter, the better. Find an example of an artist statement that you can relate to and get inspired by ideas from it.

Consider this as the most critical point in your lessons on how to write an artist statement. An effective artist statement is anywhere from a hundred words to one-page-long. To bring your statement in this range, cut down on technical details and fancy words that you may have included in your artist statement.

4. Use an active voice

Write your artist statement in an active voice. It makes the tone more conversational as if you are speaking to your viewer in person. It establishes an instant connection with the viewer. Use online editing tools like  the Hemingway  App to ensure that your artist statement appears in the active voice. 

5. Avoid spelling and grammatical mistakes

One of the primary purposes of an artist statement is to draw the audience into your artworks and lead them to explore your art further. A sloppy artist statement puts a reader off, departing them with less interest or no interest in art at all. Inconsistency in writing, typos, and spelling errors might turn a viewer away.

You can use tools like  Grammarly  to avoid small grammatical mistakes. A well-punctuated, typo-free, artist statement is a joy to read.

Here's a simple list of do's and don'ts to sum everything up. You can use this as your artist statement format:

Do’s - Best practices to create a successful artist statement

• Keep your artist statement short
• Be specific and on the point
• Bring clarity, confidence and focus on your statement
• Write about 'Why' you created the artwork
• Use precise details such as where you are from, where you live, your medium and style of work
• Use active voice
• Always write in the first person. Use "I" instead of "you" in your sentences. This helps in writing a statement that is easily readable by the viewer. Do remember to keep your bio updated

A few DONT’S to remember while writing your artist statement:

• Don't be pompous. It shouldn't just highlight your accomplishments.
• Do not generalize or romanticize
• It should not be too long 
• Avoid grammatical errors
• Don't use unnecessary references or things unrelated to your work
• Do not use passive voice
• It should not read like a cliched vision statement
• Do not summarize your biographical information or CV in your artist statement

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Do get feedback about your artist statement from your friends, peers, and mentors, before you start using it. Make sure that you get at least three people to proofread it for you. A good practice is to have a friend read the artist statement aloud to you. Hearing it out loud can help you identify mistakes and assess the statement objectively.

Make sure that your artist statement converses in a simple language that everyone understands.

Remember, your artist statement will not just represent your work on your artist portfolio. It will also serve as an example of your professionalism and expertise. An effective artist statement will draw more people to your work, enhance their experience, and help them appreciate it.

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How to Write a Creative Brief with Examples and Templates

By Joe Weller | March 5, 2024

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A  creative brief  is a roadmap for teams planning a marketing or advertising campaign, including the objectives, deliverables, and target audience. Strong creative briefs keep team members and external stakeholders aligned as the campaign develops.

  Inside this article, you’ll discover how to write a creative brief , the main elements to include, and downloadable example briefs and templates . Plus, you’ll learn how to use generative AI to help draft a creative brief .

Main Elements of a Creative Brief

Creative briefs should include sections detailing the campaign’s goals, deliverables, style, and target audience. The brief will also have information about the brand and competition in the marketplace.

A project manager for the team requesting the content or a  member of the marketing or advertising team will write a creative brief. The specific sections of a creative brief might vary depending on the project and its stakeholders, but keep these eight main elements in mind:  

• Brand Identity and Project Overview: The first section of the creative brief provides relevant background information about the brand’s mission and the campaign’s purpose, whether it is responding to pain points or advertising a new product. Summarizing these key details at the outset gives the creative team a focused direction and ensures the campaign fits into the overarching brand identity. 
• Objectives:  Clearly define goals and be sure to link them to  key performance indicators (KPIs) . Using  SMART  (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) goals when crafting objectives help you focus on the project and key metrics. 
• Competitive Analysis: Reviewing examples of recent campaigns from rival brands is a valuable strategy when seeking insight for a creative brief. Analyzing competitors’ strengths and weaknesses sheds light on what resonates with consumers and how to make a campaign stand out in the market.
• Target Audience:  Creative briefs should boil down which segment of the brand’s audience the campaign will target. Specific demographic profiles help the creative team understand customer behaviors and deliver the most effective and appealing assets.
• Tone and Style:  Whether defining a personality, listing adjectives that correspond with the core message, or designating a color palette, the creative brief clarifies the attitude and visual identity of the campaign. Designers need direction on the desired voice and style to ensure a unified final project that speaks to the target audience.
• Content Format and Deliverables:  Every creative brief must outline the specific content that the creative team needs to produce, such as social media assets, print advertisements, graphics, video content, online copy, or other elements of the campaign strategy. Include any format requirements or other specifications, so that the creative team can align their output with the campaign objectives.
• Timeline and Budget:  Stipulating key deadlines, checkpoints, and budget requirements enables the creative team to deliver on target. This information is crucial when working with external agencies, for whom the brief can function like a contract. Concrete schedule parameters give project managers details that they can follow up, warding off scope creep. Learn  how to manage scope creep  and keep projects on track.
• Stakeholders:  Briefs should include the contact details and roles for all the team members who will be involved in the project. Establishing individual responsibilities and review processes ensures internal and external stakeholders can communicate seamlessly throughout the process.

How to Write a Creative Brief

Writing a creative brief starts with gathering the information that will guide a campaign’s direction. Begin with a focused overview of the project and include concrete details on your objectives, audience, and deliverables.

A strong creative brief is clear, specific, and short. Think of it as a blueprint to inspire creativity and keep your team on track from ideation through delivery and execution. Consider using  creative brief templates  to save time and maintain consistency across multiple projects.  For branding campaigns or launches, a more specialized  brand brief  might be necessary. 

1. Gather Information and Resources  

Before you start writing, do the prep work for your brief. This might include researching competitors, analyzing pain points, meeting with stakeholders, and referencing past campaigns. Use this information to finalize your core message, target audience, and objectives.  

Once you have a clear idea of the campaign, gather the necessary supporting documents. Compile links to important resources, such as a brand style guide, digital asset library, and any example content for the creative team to reference.  

2. Decide What to Include  

The details of the campaign, stakeholders, and objectives will determine which elements of the creative brief are necessary. For example, internal team members might not need comprehensive information about your brand mission. Or you might include a budget for advertising campaigns, but not for designing a new website banner.

Keep in mind that the creative brief should be concise and focus on the creative direction of the campaign. If you need to determine a comprehensive marketing and distribution strategy, consider completing a  marketing strategy brief first.   

3. Name the Campaign and Write an Overview   

Naming the project is a simple first step to streamline communication. The campaign name should point to its core message — the idea, consumer benefit, or call to action (CTA) — the creative team needs to get across with their assets.  

Start by writing an overview that defines the core message in a few sentences. Consider including relevant brand identity aspects or drafting a short section with brand and product background. Establish why you are launching this campaign, the opportunities or challenges, and the takeaways for your audience. 

“For example, in our creative brief for a new rug collection launch, we highlighted our rugs’ unique designs inspired by Southwestern traditions and their high-quality sustainable materials. Conveying these key points up front allows designers and copywriters to center their creativity around the communication of these distinguishing factors,” offers  Connor Butterworth , CEO and Owner of  Southwestern Rugs Depot . 

4. Set Clear Objectives

Highlight one or two goals for the campaign that align with its core message. Be sure to define the KPIs you will use to measure success. Common campaign objectives include boosting engagement, increasing conversions, and communicating a specific call to action or desired consumer behavior.   

5. Analyze the Competition

Survey the competitive landscape for real-world models. Focus on a few major competitors and provide examples of their recent campaigns for similar products. Highlight key successes and failures to learn from, and create a list of the ways in which your brand or product differs.  

Elaine Chen , Founder of marketing consultancy Excogita, advises, “Creatives understand that not every project will immediately hit the mark, but they need feedback to get to the right place. Spend time looking at competing campaigns so that you have concrete ideas about what you feel will and won't work, and share some of these insights in your brief.”

6. Define the Demographic

Determine a primary target audience for the campaign. Are you trying to reach a segment of the current brand audience or potential new customers? Break down your target audience with demographic data — such as age, gender, and geographic location — as well as buying behaviors and psychographic information, such as preferences and interests. 

Instead of listing all the aspects of your target audience, use profiles or personas to draw a precise portrait of your customer in a couple sentences. Learn  how to create customer profiles  to better understand your audience with individualized buyer personas.  

7. Explain the Tone

Choose several adjectives that describe an attitude or personality for the campaign. Align this personality with the key message, cater it to your target audience, and fit it within your brand identity. Include links to any brand style guidelines or designated fonts and color palettes.

Should graphics feel sophisticated and minimalistic or playful and energetic? Is the tone authentic and empowering or confident and provocative? The adjectives you choose will guide both the visual direction and voice of your campaign, keeping all the elements of the project cohesive.

8. Designate Deliverables

Determine what assets or content the creative team needs to produce to meet the campaign objectives. Specify the content format, the number of deliverables, and any requirements or specifications, such as image dimensions or character limits. You might mention your distribution strategy if modified versions of the assets will be needed for different platforms.

9. Walk Through the Timeline and Budget

Working backward from the campaign launch date, determine when assets need to be delivered in order to be reviewed by key stakeholders and released on schedule. Fill in important due dates, review periods, meetings, and final approval deadlines leading up to the release date. If the creative team will be producing video content or multichannel advertising campaigns, establish a budget.

10. Present to Stakeholders

Share the completed brief with all the stakeholders involved, from the creatives who will be producing the content to the executives who will approve final designs. The creative team might consist of in-house designers and marketers, or it could be an external agency. Consider including a project manager to track deadlines and deliverables. Project managers can create a separate  project brief  to summarize high-level details.

Whether you present the brief at a  project kickoff meeting or distribute it electronically, be open to feedback. The creative team might have questions on the timeline, resources, tone, or approval process. The marketing director could help you fine-tune the target audience and core message. Refine the brief if necessary before you share the final version. Make sure everyone understands the direction of the project and their responsibilities.

Examples of Creative Briefs

These creative brief examples use variations on the basic creative brief template to communicate specific project details to stakeholders. These downloadable and customizable templates include example copy for a variety of creative brief scenarios.

Simple Creative Brief Example Template

Download the Simple Creative Brief Example Template for Microsoft Word

Download the Simple Creative Brief Blank Template for Microsoft Word

Here’s an example of a creative brief for a marketing campaign designed in-house. This short creative brief template keeps a tight focus on the project itself — and doesn’t waste time providing unnecessary context.

Client Creative Brief Example Template

Download the Client Creative Brief Example Template for Microsoft Word

Download the Client Creative Brief Blank Template for Microsoft Word

This example shows how a creative brief might be completed for implementing a marketing campaign with an agency. There is more information about the client — the brand, project message, and call to action — while leaving room for the creative team to innovate. 

Graphic Design Creative Brief Example Template

Download the Graphic Design Creative Brief Example Template for Microsoft Word

Download the Graphic Design Creative Brief Blank Template for Microsoft Word

Here’s an example of a creative brief for a graphic design project that is perfect for solo graphic designers or graphic design firms planning projects in collaboration with their clients. The simple, adaptable layout has room for details on image requirements and design elements, as well as direction about the project. 

For more elaborate design projects — such as a logo design or product design — consider using a specific  design brief .

Advertising Creative Brief Example Template

Download the Advertising Creative Brief Example Template for Microsoft Word

Download the Advertising Creative Brief Blank Template for Microsoft Word

This creative brief example uses a straightforward advertising campaign template to cover objective, tone, messaging, target audience, and non-negotiables. There are also key advertising elements needed for the campaign. 

What to Keep in Mind When Writing a Creative Brief for Internal Use vs. an Agency

Creative briefs are a campaign’s starting point for both in-house teams and agencies. The project’s stakeholders will determine the brief’s content. Both internal and external creative teams need information about the campaign’s message, but agencies might need more brand details.

Internal creative briefs are often short and direct, since the stakeholders will bring their understanding of the brand and its identity to the project. Internal creative teams might already be familiar with style guidelines, recent campaigns, and customer personas. It’s still important to include focused direction specific to the campaign objectives, but the brief can be more informal and flexible.

Creative briefs shared with external agencies, on the other hand, are often more extensive. CEO and Founder of  Awning.com Shri Ganeshram recommends crafting a “more detailed and structured brief” when working with an agency. “It has to convey the essence of your brand and project requirements without any assumed knowledge,” he continues. “When I worked with an external design agency for our marketing campaign, the detailed brief we provided helped them grasp our brand ethos quickly, resulting in a highly successful campaign.”

As a marketing executive with both in-house and agency experience, Chen points out that projects that are contracted out might also require more comprehensive briefs. “Many companies are only working with agencies on high-profile or very strategic assignments such as major advertising campaigns, creating new brands, or significant rebrands. Accordingly, the briefs will need to include lots of insights about the product and audience, while avoiding being too prescriptive to give the agency room to innovate.”

Additionally, while both internal and agency creative briefs typically include deliverables and deadlines, these stipulations might carry more weight externally. In his experience working with agencies, Ganeshram explains, “The creative brief acts as a contract of sorts that outlines what the client expects, providing a clear framework within which the agency operates. This distinction is crucial for ensuring both parties have aligned expectations.” 

Pitfalls to Avoid When Writing a Creative Brief

An effective creative brief empowers designers, advertisers, or marketers to deliver original and compelling content. On the other hand, vague or complicated briefs make it impossible for creative teams to meet expectations. Avoiding these pitfalls streamlines the creative process.  

There are five common pitfalls to keep in mind when writing creative briefs:  

Ambiguity:   

A vague direction can make it impossible for the creative team to understand the vision for the campaign. Provide specific information about the tone and message, as well as clear guidelines for the format of the final product. “If you leave anything up for interpretation, then you risk the result not being what you expected,” advises Kristien Matelski, Content/PR Manager at  Vizion Interactive . “I’ve found that a few good examples are much more valuable than just describing what I’m looking for.”

• Overprescription: Conversely, including too much detail can limit creativity and overwhelm the core message. Designers, copywriters, and other creatives need freedom to bring their own expertise and imagination to the project. “While detailed background information is always helpful, realize that you can only convey so much in a single communication,” Chen notes. “Avoid requiring your creative team to fold in too many messages or else you could end up with a garbled mess.”
• Broad or Unspecified Audience: It’s crucial to define a target audience with as much detail as possible. Large campaigns might have primary and secondary markets, but to create effective assets, the team needs to have a specific audience in mind and understand their behaviors. “Too often companies are so focused on what they have to say that they end up failing to incorporate customer perspectives and create a message that just falls flat,” cautions Chen.
• Unrealistic Expectations:  The purpose of a creative brief is to keep stakeholders’ expectations and responsibilities aligned throughout the project’s development. However, if the brief sets impossibly tight deadlines or unattainable objectives, creatives won’t be able to deliver compelling results.
• Complicated CTA:  Campaigns work best with a simple and clear core message or desired outcome. Creative briefs that fail to develop a clear call to action result in campaigns that can’t meet their objectives. Chen adds, “It's most realistic to ask consumers to do just one easy thing after seeing your ads. A complicated, multistep process or a confusing mix of options is doomed to fail.”

How to Use Generative AI to Write a More Effective Brief

Recent advancements in generative AI have made it a powerful tool for crafting creative briefs. AI can analyze pain points and customer data, suggest relevant core messages, and elevate directions on tone and style. Think of the AI as a partner or assistant when drafting your prompts, and be prepared to finetune the results.

“Generative AI can be a game-changer for crafting creative briefs in marketing and advertising,” observes Peter Wood, CTO at  Spectrum Search . “It's essential to leverage AI for initial idea generation. By feeding the AI system with your campaign’s objectives and target audience demographics, you can get a diverse range of creative concepts and narratives, which might not be immediately obvious to a human team.”

You can also use AI to assist in data analysis when researching your competitors and establishing customer personas. Wood continues, “This analysis can inform the tone, style, and content of your brief, ensuring it is aligned with what resonates with your audience.”  

“As a content manager, I’ve found that creative briefs have been a primary use for AI,” reveals Kristien Matelski. To get the best results from the AI, she recommends providing it with background information about your brand and objectives, as well as detailed instructions for the content you want it to generate. Keep revising and updating your prompts as you work, and make sure to verify any facts or data in your results. 

Here are four tips to keep in mind when utilizing AI to draft your creative brief:  

• Pretend the AI Is Your Assistant:  AI is not a search engine, and it can handle more complex directions. “Be as detailed as possible with what you want, like you’re giving instructions to an assistant to write a brief or outline for you,” suggests Matelski.
• Provide Background:  Feed the AI relevant information about the brand, product, or campaign objectives. Matelski says, “I generally start by giving the AI some context about the who, or the company we are generating a creative brief for, including a link to their website. Then I tell it the what that we’re creating, a creative brief or outline for a new product page.”
• Include Specifics:  If you are using a template, make sure to list the fields you want the AI to generate. Establish any requirements and important campaign directives to include in the brief. As an example, Matelski offers, “Be sure to mention X, Y, Z brand names, color choices, and keywords.”
• Edit, Edit, Edit:  Once the AI has generated the brief, read through the results and determine next steps. “You’ll need to edit yourself or go back and forth with the AI a few times to get it how you want it,” Matelski acknowledges. You might ask the AI to condense the overview, suggest a more playful core message, narrow the objectives, or tailor the deliverables for a specific social media platform. Consider whether you need to provide additional information with your instructions.

Improve Your Creative Briefs with Smartsheet for Marketing

The best marketing teams know the importance of effective campaign management, consistent creative operations, and powerful event logistics -- and Smartsheet helps you deliver on all three so you can be more effective and achieve more. 

The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed.

When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time. Try Smartsheet for free, today.

Improve your marketing efforts and deliver best-in-class campaigns.

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How To Write The Perfect Artwork Description

When it comes to selling your art, the more information that you provide in your artwork description the better! After all, this is where your customer will turn to learn more about your piece.

The best artwork descriptions on Artfinder comprise two sections: one detailing the inspiration behind the piece and another presenting the bare facts .

The inspirational bit

This component of the description will need to refer directly to the artwork at hand. There's no perfect formula for this, however it does need to be engaging! Remember that it should reflect you and your personality, as well as your enthusiasm for your work.

You may wish to mention the following:

• What inspired you to create the piece?
• What techniques did you use and why?
• What does it mean to you?
• What does it represent in terms of your artistic work as a whole?

Bear in mind that along with our usual criteria for excellent listings , we look for detailed and inspirational artwork descriptions for our Art of the Day email feature. So if you tick all of the boxes, you are more likely to be selected!

The factual bit

It’s worth spending a little more time on this component to ensure that you have every possible factor that the customer could wish to know. The good news is, though, that you can then copy and paste the same formula into each listing and tweak it to make it relevant to your artwork.

• Materials used – include canvas type , materials used e.g. pastels or pencils
• Dimensions – include these in centimetres and inches for extra clarity
• Packaging - explain your packaging process. Will the work be packed in bubble wrap or rolled? Do you offer to ship artworks both rolled and stretched?
• Delivery - expand on your courier and shipping times
• Anything else to add? Maybe you want to encourage the customer to get in touch with you directly with any questions

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Creative Brief Examples: How to Write a Creative Brief in 8 Steps

Haillie Parker

March 15, 2024

As Boromir once said in the cinematic masterpiece The Lord Of The Rings , “One does not simply make a funny video .” 🤌

OK, we took some artistic liberties—but the sentiment rings true! You can’t just whip up a creative project from scratch and expect it to be successful. 

Creative projects require careful research, intentional planning, and collaboration to make a splash. And before teams can hit the ground running, these elements must be packaged together in an informative document known as the creative brief. ✨

But how do you know if your creative brief is checking every box?

Follow along to learn everything you need to know to build an effective creative brief including a detailed outline, step-by-step workflow, top examples, and more. Plus, access to customizable creative brief templates!

What Is a Creative Brief?

What belongs in a creative brief , advertising campaign creative briefs, content marketing creative briefs, website redesign briefs, step 1: give the project a proper name, step 2: coordinate your objectives with long-term goals, step 3: identify your target audience , step 4: solidify your messaging strategy, step 5: determine the final deliverables, step 6: budget your time and resources, step 7: set your milestones, then the timeline, step 8: name your key players, step 9: lock in the brief, creative brief templates.

A creative brief is a short but informative document outlining the main details of any creative project and leads the team from ideation through the final deliverables. It’s the key to creating your roadmap and solidifying must-know information like:

• Project requirements
• Brand guidelines
• Creative assets
• Audience and messaging
• Scope and timeline

And more—depending on your project! 🎨

Creative briefs are standard practice for most agencies and marketing teams . And like a design brief , the creative brief begins with a request from a client, company stakeholder, or another department within your organization.

While the team developing the project ultimately owns the creative brief, constructing it is a collaborative effort between everyone involved. 

Start by discussing the request itself. Go into this meeting with the intention of understanding the requestor or client’s vision, mission, and purpose to find the elements that really matter to them. From there, you can address any immediate challenges and offer your industry expertise to bring the project to life. 

The goal is to get everyone on board with the project plan—especially your stakeholders. With the requirements set in stone, design teams , writers, and marketers will know exactly how creative to get with your project and what’s expected.

What makes standardizing creative briefs so difficult is the ever-changing nature of each individual project. But that’s also what makes your brief so valuable! 

A creative project could be almost anything—from launching a complex advertising campaign to producing a web series. Each project will pose a distinct set of challenges, but the creative brief is there to help creative teams identify and solve those issues as quickly as possible.

Think of your creative brief as a reliable source of truth to refer back to throughout the project process. Whether it’s to provide updates, cross reference your work with the original plan, or double-check your messaging, the brief is your North Star. ⭐️

Creative Brief Examples

The outline and workflow we’ve covered will fit virtually any creative project. But that doesn’t mean each brief will look the same. Creative briefs are the starting point for every creative project—no matter how big or small. Some projects will lean heavier into certain sections of the creative brief than others. Here are a few creative brief examples to help you gauge the differences between projects.

Bonus: AI Outline Generators !

Advertising and marketing campaign briefs range from somewhat simple to extremely complex, depending on the scope of work. In this creative brief example, you may want to include additional research, multiple visual references, and several draft reviews to ensure the production and delivery goes off without a hitch. 

This is also a great example of the type of project that may include more than one CTA. While there will always be one primary purpose behind the campaign, it’s important for the creative team and stakeholders to align on the marketing KPIs , deliverables, and delivery process as quickly as possible. 

New to writing campaign briefs? The best place to start is with a customizable template like the Campaign Brief Template by ClickUp !

A content marketing creative brief guides the blog and SEO teams to develop articles, copy, and materials that resonate with the company, its customers, and beyond! The audience, objectives, messaging strategy, and timeline are crucial in content marketing projects , especially if you’re following a tight content calendar . 

Content marketing objectives include anything from increasing brand awareness to generating potential sales leads. They are often created for the brand’s own website, social media platforms, newsletters, or content database .

The project’s success is generally determined through website traffic, engagement rates, conversions, and various social media metrics to tie back to the company’s larger goals.

Many companies use these projects to establish their thought leadership by partnering with third-party publications which requires a detailed brief to properly follow a brand-specific tone of voice and style guidelines.

Web design workflows are no small feat and open the door to tons of unique creative elements including UX considerations, functional requirements, creative process needs, and more! Website redesign creative briefs still follow the same basic steps and structure but must be looked at through additional lenses:

• Are the graphics, typography, and messaging consistent with the brand?
• Can users easily navigate the website and reach the product or services with ease?
• Does the design support the functionality you need? 

With so many elements to any website, there can be a lot of back and forth between the designers and the client. To avoid draining your team with constant review sessions and minor tweaks, make sure you as the creative project manager set clear boundaries on the number of edits you’ll allow on the project before the final deadline.

There’s no need to exceed two rounds.

How to Write a Creative Brief 

Even with your outline ready to go, there is a strategic approach to completing your brief as efficiently as possible. Follow these steps to ensure your team and stakeholders are on the same page throughout your creative briefing process so no stone is left unturned! 

Starting things off strong with one of the most crucial pieces of your project—its name! Your project name should be clear and concise while communicating the intent. It doesn’t have to be flashy or funny, but it should resonate with your target audience and be compelling enough for them to want to learn more. In a sense, the name is your project or business’ first impression.

The overview is where you can dissect the project name a little more for the sake of the team. In a sentence or less, use your overview to answer any questions that may remain from the project name to avoid miscommunication or back-and-forth between stakeholders and the creative team. This could be a brief explanation of what the project will be and its core message.

With your project name and description in hand, you’re ready to outline your main objectives and goals. Your objectives are detailed and project-specific. It’s your opportunity to align the team on potential setbacks before they happen, CTAs, and prove the project’s worth. 

All of this starts by defining these key points:

• The problem you’re addressing
• How the project will solve it
• Why it needs to happen

Nailing down the what, how, and why of your project will set the expectation for what a successful outcome will look like when it’s all said and done. From there, you can draw connections between the project’s more granular objectives and the company’s larger goals or mission. 

Your target audience is the group that will benefit most from your project or campaign and tells the creative team who they’re connecting with. If you already have user persona profiles created for your business, use those resources and market research to build this section! You don’t have to tell your user’s life story, but be sure to cover basic information including:

• Demographics : Age, job title, education, marital status, and ethnicity
• Behaviors : Buying trends and histories
• Psychographics : Their general interests, opinions, and attitudes)
• Location : Not just physical! Think about where to find your customer digitally

Now that you know who you’re marketing to, you can strategize the best ways to connect with them. Your messaging strategy is all about being in the right place at the right time and speaking to your audience the way they want to be spoken to. 

AKA, how will you distribute your creative project to the intended people?

Consider the social media and online platforms your target audience most commonly consumes, and create tailored content for those channels. This forethought will help you make significant decisions like whether to create a video, written post, or series of photos to draw your audience toward your product or service. 

But it doesn’t stop there. Once your audience member visits your website, reaches your CTA, or clicks on your link, be sure to greet them with consistent and familiar messaging to guide them all the way through the funnel. 

Ahh, now for the good stuff—what the project actually is. 

The prior sections of your creative brief are essential for justifying, setting up, and framing your assets for a successful launch. But there are many ways to interpret the project strategy and vision up to this point. Use this section to eliminate any gray area and potential miscommunication by detailing exactly what the creative team will provide. 

Your final creative deliverables include all digital or physical media requested, specific design elements, references to similar work, size or format requirements, mockups, and more. To ensure your client or stakeholder is completely satisfied with the final product, it’s better to lean into the details than leave too much for the imagination. 

It may not be your favorite part of the job, but it’s so important to be fully transparent about your budget. Your budget isn’t a limitation, it helps the creative team determine how creative they can get with the request. 

Be sure to note whether there’s a bit of wiggle room in the budget and when the project has hit the maximum amount. Think of your budget like the bumper rails on a bowling lane. Having these boundaries give the creative team clear guidelines to work within.

If you need help with budgeting your project—try the ClickUp Budget Project Management Template to break down every detail and cost.

And let’s not forget—the creative team members are experts in this! The challenge of crafting projects within a predetermined set of requirements is nothing new for them. 

With a crystal-clear budget to lead start the project off on the right foot, no one will be disappointed or met with an unwanted surprise.

When mapping out your timeline, it’s easier to start with the significant dates in your project—also known as your project milestones! These benchmark events include:

• Your project kick-off
• Creative brief approval
• Draft reviews
• Production completion
• Final asset turnover

With these dates, you can flesh out the tasks between each milestone, subtasks, dependencies, recurring meetings, and more. 

Your approved timeline and milestones will be the central resource for building a detailed project roadmap and properly delegating the teams’ individual workloads. 

To establish full transparency with everyone involved, make sure you identify each major player for the creative project. 

For the project manager, this clarifies each point of contact, their titles, and final sign-offs. As for the project itself, this portion of the creative brief also acts as a paper trail documenting whether certain aspects of the project have been approved and when. 

Once you’ve taken the first pass at constructing your creative brief, send it back to your client and stakeholders for final approval—then it’s time to put it to use! 

After the creative brief has been reviewed and accepted, no further edits should be made. But of course, all projects are different! If changes are made to the brief at any point, be sure to thoroughly document, date, and share those updates with everyone involved in a proper project meeting. 

Even with a clear outline and step-by-step workflow, nothing beats a pre-built and customizable template to streamline your creative brief process. 

These tools were designed to include every critical element to avoid errors that may haunt you down the road. Your ideal creative brief template will seamlessly integrate with your creative project management software and be easily tailored to each project’s needs. 

ClickUp leads the charge when it comes to templates for creative and design teams with its own vast Template Library . With over 1,000 templates and new ones created every week, ClickUp has you covered—no matter your use case! Here are a few of our favorite creative brief templates to jump-start your next project.

1. Creative Brief Document Template by ClickUp

If you’re looking for a carefully curated, beginner-friendly, and collaborative creative brief template—this is it! The Creative Brief Document Template by ClickUp is the secret to aligning the marketing team, stakeholders, and clients on all creative project elements well before the project begins.

From defining your project’s purpose to outlining the budget, this template breaks down every must-have creative brief element in an easy-to-use format with pre-built tables, checklists, and prompts to guide you.

This ready-made ClickUp Doc also comes loaded with every powerful feature ClickUp is known for including:

• Threaded and assigned comments to streamline your editing process
• Slash Commands to embed tasks, third-party websites, rich styling, and media for added context throughout your template
• Nested pages to expand your creative brief into the production process and build a visual hierarchy
• Simple @mentions to call members to your Doc
• Custom sharing and permission settings to control who can edit or view your brief

And more! Access this template in all its glory at absolutely no cost

2. Creative Brief Demand Planning Template by ClickUp

Use the Creative Brief Demand Planning Template by ClickUp on its own or pair it with the template mentioned above to set clear goals before your creative project. This template takes your traditional creative brief example a step further with features to help you act on your ideas the moment inspiration strikes you.

This intuitive List template is every creative project manager’s dream with five Custom Statuses to visually convey progress, 20 Custom Fields to filter and sort tasks in seconds, and seven custom views to manage your projects from every angle. Among these many views, you’ll find:

• A pre-built List to organize all of your creative work 
• A creative brief Form to collect all necessary information from the client
• Every accepted project is arranged in a clean Table view
• A detailed project calendar to stay on top of deadlines and project Milestones

And much more. Especially if your agency juggles more than one creative project at a time—this template is for you. 

3. Creative Brief Whiteboard Template by ClickUp

We’re not saying we saved the best for last—but it’s certainly the most interactive! The Creative Brief Whiteboard Template by ClickUp bridges the gap between business and design to effectively communicate ideas and requirements from the same highly visual canvas.

Unlike your typical digital whiteboard software , ClickUp Whiteboards connect instantly to your workflow with the power to convert any text into actionable tasks. This isn’t just a pre-structured diagram .

This template stays with you long after your own creative brief is approved with workflow Automations , seven Custom Statuses, and nine Custom Fields to take the edge off of your creative process. Plus, there are four ready-to-go project views to help craft your timeline and workflows. 

Take Your Creative Briefs Further in ClickUp

OK, we covered a lot of material there. Let’s regroup, shall we? By now, you’ve got:

• The must-have elements of any creative brief
• A detailed outline to craft your own
• A step-by-step workflow 
• Three creative brief examples
• Multiple creative brief templates

All that’s left to do is log into ClickUp and watch your creative brief transform before your very eyes!

ClickUp is the only productivity software powerful enough to centralize all of your creative work in one collaborative platform. With over 1,000 integrations , a vast Template Library, hundreds of project management features , and flexible pricing , ClickUp is the one-stop-shop solution for teams across industries.

What’s not to love? Try ClickUp for free, today !

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Writing a creative brief? Read these tips first

Georgina Guthrie

January 12, 2024

Is it easier to herd cats or creatives? The jury’s out, but a creative brief should help with the latter. While it’s tempting to get swept up in ideas the second a client shares their big, exciting dream, having a strategic approach will help you and your team harness that energy more productively. And that’s exactly what a creative brief does. 

What is a creative brief?

A creative brief is a document that sets out the objectives, message, tone, target audience, and overall direction for a creative project. It’s most commonly used in advertising, marketing, and design. 

It’s not just about control, and it’s definitely not about being a killjoy: creative briefs, when they’re done well, spark inspiration and provide a guideline for the team’s output. They’re an art in themselves, and mastering them is key to getting the most out of your creatives.

• Purpose: To inspire and guide the creation of advertising and marketing materials.
• Origin : Developed internally by the creative or marketing team.
• Focus : On the overall vision, message, and emotional tone.
• Audience : Primarily used by creative teams like designers, copywriters, and art directors.
• Key elements: Objectives, target audience, key message, tone, and deliverables.

Who needs a creative brief?

“Ugh, more documents. Do I really need a creative brief?”

We hear you. If you’re a single person doing a crafting project for fun, then probably not. But the second others get involved, be they clients or other creatives, then a little direction goes a long way. 

So, the short answer is yes. Whether you’re a big corporation or a small business , having a creative brief is a good idea if you’re doing any form of creative work either for a client or for yourself in a business or team context. But don’t stress: they’re actually very simple to make. But before we get into that, let’s take a quick look at some similar-sounding documents. 

Creative brief vs. content brief

First, some common mix-ups that you really don’t want to get mixed up. 

A creative brief outlines the deliverables of an entire creative project. A content brief is more specific, and often used for individual pieces of content or content campaigns within a broader project. 

• Purpose: To guide the creation of specific content pieces.
• Focus : On the topic, structure, and SEO elements of a piece of content.
• Audience: Primarily used by content creators, such as writers, video producers, and content marketers.
• Key elements: Topic, objectives, target audience, structure, tone, SEO keywords.

Creative brief vs. client brief

The client brief is more about the client’s perspective and less about creative execution.

• Origin: Provided by the client at the start of a project.
• Purpose: To communicate the client’s needs, objectives, and expectations to the creative team.
• Focus: On the client’s business goals, target audience, and overall project requirements.
• Audience: The creative or marketing team that will be working on the project.

How a creative brief works

Think of a creative brief as a map for your creative journey. It kicks off when someone says, ‘We need to tell our audience something important!’ That’s the moment a project is born, and it’s where the creative brief starts to take shape.

First, you gather the team — this includes the creative lot, the strategy team, and anyone else who’s got a stake in the project. Everyone gets together to chat about what the brand’s all about, what you’re trying to achieve this time around, who you’re talking to, and the specific hurdles in store.

From this brainstor ming session, you distill all those thoughts and ideas down into a neat document. This isn’t just any document. It’s the creative brief that details the vision and strategy for the project.

Once your document’s finished, you share it around. It’s not just for the creatives; it’s for everyone involved, including stakeholders and the client. 

Types of creative briefs

Different projects might need different kinds of briefs. Let’s walk through the main types you might encounter (although, remember, many combine all of the below):

1. Advertising creative brief: This is the go-to for advertising campaigns. It details the campaign’s objective, the target audience, the key message, and the desired response.

2. Design creative brief: Whether it’s a new logo, a website redesign, or packaging, this brief outlines the visual goals, the emotions you want to evoke, and the brand identity that needs to shine through.

3. Digital creative brief : It covers websites, social media campaigns, and online ads. It’s where you get into the digital specifics, like user experience, SEO, and interactive elements.

4. Video creative brief: This brief is for video projects and includes details about the storyline, the style, the audience, and the message you’re aiming to deliver through those moving pictures.

The essential elements of a creative brief

A creative brief needs certain non-negotiable elements to be effective. 

1. Project overview: Start with a concise summary of the project. This should answer the basic question, ‘What are we doing and why?’ It’s the foundation that sets the context for everything that follows.

2. Objectives: Clearly articulate what you’re aiming to achieve. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, drive sales, or perhaps change public perception? Set SMART goals so everyone knows what success looks like.

3. Target audience: Understand who you’re speaking to. Beyond basic demographics, consider psychographics like interests, values, and lifestyle. The better you know your audience, the more effectively you can talk to them.

4. Key message: What’s the main thrust of your project? You need a clear and compelling statement that captures the essence of your campaign and resonates with your audience. This message will guide the creative direction.

5. Tone and brand voice: How will you communicate your message? Should it be professional and authoritative, warm and friendly, or perhaps witty and irreverent? The tone should be consistent with your brand and appropriate for your audience.

6. Deliverables : List out exactly what you need. This might include print ads, social media content, a website, or a series of videos. Being specific helps align expectations.

7. Budget and resources: Knowing the budget helps you prioritize and make smart decisions. Also, consider other resources like team skills and available technology.

8. Timeline: You’ll need a detailed timeline with key milestones and a final deadline. This helps you plan while ensuring the project moves forward.

9. Approval process: Clarify who needs to review and approve the work at different stages. Knowing this upfront helps prevent delays and bottlenecks .

Creative brief examples

Source: Laura Ferrari on Behance

A more detailed creative brief by Francesca Penchant on Behance

How to make a creative brief in 10 easy steps 

Ready to get started with your own creative brief? Of course you are! First, open a ready-made brief template or blank Word doc, then follow these steps.

1. Give your project a name

Every great project starts with a name. A good name can inspire the team and provide a shorthand way to refer to the project.

Make it short, memorable, and something that encapsulates the project. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it should resonate with the goals and tone. 

2. Write about the brand and backstory 

Understanding the brand’s core and the project’s backstory is like setting the stage before the main act. It gives everyone involved context, which helps align their efforts with the brand’s goals.

Start by defining the brand’s mission, vision, values, and personality. 

• What does the brand stand for? 
• How does it speak?
• What’s its story? 

Next, dive into the specific background of the project. 

• What led to the need for this project? 
• Has anything similar been done before? 
• What were the outcomes? 

This section should paint a clear picture of where the brand comes from and where this project fits within its larger narrative. 

3. Sum up the project’s objective

The project objective is your North Star. Be specific about what the project intends to achieve. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, drive sales, launch a new product, or perhaps change public perception? 

Define measurable goals , like ‘increase website traffic by 20%’ or ‘gain 10,000 new social media followers within three months.’ This keeps the team focused and motivated, knowing exactly what they need to achieve. 

4. Describe the target audience

Knowing your audience is the difference between choosing a gift for someone you know and someone you don’t. When you know your audience, your chances of delivering tailored perfection are way higher. 

Start with demographics like age, gender, location, and income level. Then, move into psychographics like interests, values, lifestyle, and behaviors. 

What motivates them? What are their pain points? Top tip: a user persona template is a great way to lay out all this data in a way that’s easy to digest and share.

5. Describe the competition

Who else is vying for the attention of your target audience? What are they offering, and how are they positioning themselves? Analyze their strengths and weaknesses and understand their strategies as part of a competitive landscape analysis .

Consider broader market trends, too. Are there shifts in consumer behavior, new regulations, or emerging technologies that could impact the landscape? This section should provide a clear picture of where you stand among your competitors and how you can leverage your unique selling points (USPs).

6. Define your core message 

The key message is the heart of your communication. 

• It needs to be relevant, engaging, and memorable
• It should also be flexible enough to be tailored across various platforms while maintaining its core essence
• Ensure it aligns with your brand voice and the project’s objectives
• Make sure it addresses both emotional and rational appeals (does it evoke a feeling, solve a problem, or offer a distinct benefit? 

7. Choose your USP

Selecting the key consumer benefit (aka your USP) is about pinpointing the primary advantage your product or service offers to the customer over the competition. If you can’t think of a reason someone should choose your brand over others, then it’s back to the drawing board you go! 

8. Define your personality 

Vibe, attitude…whatever you want to call it, you need to bottle it up and sell it to your creatives. 

There are several ways to approach this. Some teams like mood boards, while others like user personas. Essentially, you want to decide on the personality and emotional tone of your communications. 

Think about how you want your audience to feel when they see your campaign. Inspired? Comforted? Energized? Your chosen attitude should resonate with your target audience (while being easy for your creatives to grasp). 

9. Create a distribution plan

Your comms need to be in the right place, reaching the right people at the right time. Taking a scattershot approach might result in a few wins, but ultimately, it’s a waste of time and energy. A distribution plan outlines where and how your creative content will reach your audience in a more considered way. 

• Think about which channels that are relevant to your target audience
• Plan the timing of your distribution. Are there certain times of the day or year when your audience is more likely to engage? 
• Consider the frequency of your messaging and how different channels might work together to reinforce the campaign. 
• Make sure your distribution plan fits your budget and resource availability. 
• Include metrics for measuring success.

10. Share the creative brief with stakeholders

Once you’re done, share it with all key stakeholders . This includes members of the creative team, marketing team, executives, and any other parties involved in the project. 

Arrange a meeting or presentation to walk through the brief, highlighting the key points and objectives. Encourage questions, feedback, and discussion to ensure clarity and address any concerns. This is also an opportunity to gauge the stakeholders’ expectations and make sure everyone’s on the same page. Listen to their insights and be prepared to make adjustments if necessary. 

By involving stakeholders in this final step, you’re not just getting approval; you’re recruiting cheerleaders who are engaged and there to support you every step of the way. 

How to write a creative brief your team will love

Writing the best creative brief is an art and science that requires clarity, empathy, attention to detail, and just a sprinkling of creativity. You’ll need to provide enough direction to guide the creative process while leaving room for exploration. Here are some tips.

• Start with a clear vision. This includes knowing what you want to say and, most importantly, why .
• Inspire, don’t dictate. Creative people need breathing room to do their best work.
• Understand your audience. Dedicate a significant chunk of your time to customer discovery , or be prepared to be ignored. 
• Speak your audience’s language: define your message’s tone, visual identity, and communication approach. 
• Be specific and detailed. Clear objectives and detailed deliverables keep everyone focused and on track. 
• Encourage creativity. This means being open to new ideas. Because sometimes the best ideas are the wildcards. 
• Provide examples . Your brief should include examples from past projects or competitors to help give the creative team a feel for what the client wants (or doesn’t want). This is especially useful for visual learners, which creatives often are. 
• Align with brand identity. Customers respond to consistency, so make sure your brief’s requests are all on-brand in terms of both looks, tone, and values.
• Collaborate : involve everyone, including stakeholders, and communicate regularly. This lowers the chance of communication breakdowns and nasty ‘surprise…the client doesn’t like it’ moments. 
• Review and reflect: After the project, review what worked and what didn’t in a project post-mortem . This will help lay the foundations for future creative briefs.
• Use collaboration tools. Digital user persona templates and project management tools are all worth their weight in gold when it comes to keeping everyone on track. It’s worth remembering that the creative brief process is an iterative one, so using tools that allow for easy editing and sharing will save you a lot of effort later on. Take it for a spin today! 

[Flowchart] A holiday gift guide: flowchart style

Every team should use microframes

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