How to Brief a Designer So You Actually Get What You Want

If you’ve ever handed a designer a request like “just make it pop” or “something that feels churchy,” you already know how this story usually ends. You get back a draft, it’s not quite right, you can’t explain why, three rounds of revisions later everyone’s frustrated, and the flyer needed to go out yesterday.

The problem usually isn’t the designer’s skill. It’s the brief — or the lack of one. Most church staff have never been taught how to communicate a design request, because most church staff didn’t sign up to be creative directors. But a few minutes spent framing a request well can save hours of back-and-forth later, and it’s a skill any pastor or ministry leader can pick up quickly.

Start with the purpose, not the look. Before you describe colors or fonts, describe what the piece needs to do. Is it getting someone to sign up for a small group? Announcing a one-time event? Reinforcing your church’s identity to first-time guests? A designer who knows the goal can make dozens of small decisions correctly without you having to specify each one. A designer who only knows “make a flyer for the fall event” is guessing.

Give real constraints, not vague vibes. “Make it exciting” tells a designer almost nothing useful. “This goes on our lobby TV screens, needs to be readable from twenty feet away, and has to include the date, time, and a QR code” tells them everything they need to start strong. Constraints aren’t limiting — they’re what turns a blank page into a solvable problem.

Show examples, even bad ones. If you’ve seen a design elsewhere that captures the feeling you’re after, share it. If you’ve seen one you hate, share that too and say why. Designers can’t read your mind, but they’re very good at reading references. Two or three examples will get you further than three paragraphs of adjectives.

Say who it’s for. A back-to-school event flyer aimed at young families should look and read differently than an invitation to a men’s retreat. Naming the audience out loud — even briefly — helps a designer choose tone, imagery, and language that will actually land with the people you’re trying to reach.

Finally, give feedback on the work, not just the feelings. “I don’t love it” isn’t actionable. “The headline is hard to read against that background” or “this feels more corporate than warm” gives a designer something they can actually fix. The best working relationships between churches and designers aren’t the ones where everyone agrees instantly — they’re the ones where feedback is specific enough to move things forward.

None of this requires design training. It just requires treating the brief as part of the work, not a formality to rush through on the way to the “real” project. Churches that get this right tend to need fewer revisions, waste less staff time, and end up with graphics that actually do their job.

If writing great briefs still doesn’t solve the deeper issue — not having a design team you can lean on in the first place — CRAKL can help. We specialize in graphic design built specifically for churches.