How to Write a Design Request That Designers Actually Understand

TL;DR

A good design request removes guesswork. It tells designers what you’re trying to achieve, who it’s for, and what success looks like. The clearer your design request, the fewer revisions you’ll need, the faster projects move, and the better your final designs turn out.

Several businesses today outsource design. But not all of them manage to get the best ROI. Not all of them manage to get the design that works for them. The gap between what you see in your head and what the designer creates on their screen is bridged by one crucial element – your creative brief or design request. If you are wondering how to write a design request that eliminates the dreaded back-and-forth revision cycle, you are in the right place.

Today we are talking about design requests, why they matter and how to draft a useful design request that enhances the efficiency of your design workflows. 

What is a Design Request? 

A design request is a clear, structured brief a marketing team or business or entrepreneur submits to a designer or design agency explaining what needs to be designed. 

Whether you are looking to design a logo for your brand or a full brand identity, some print marketing assets like flyers. Irrespective of what has to be designed, the very first step is drafting the design request. 

A design request could be “we need a social media graphic for our Christmas sale”. Or it could be “We need an Instagram carousel post promoting our Christmas sale from December 15–24, designed to build traction for our limited edition holiday product. The goal is to create excitement among existing customers and attract gift buyers aged 25-45 who are interested in premium, seasonal products. The carousel should highlight the limited availability, key product benefits, and include a clear call to action encouraging customers to shop before it sells out.”

Which of these requests do you think will get better results? Of course, you can always start with the first one. And then the designer asks for more details. You provide them with more details and then they highlight what’s missing. You then share video recordings or reference images for more clarity. The back-and-forth communication that happens here takes time and effort. Good design requests aim to eliminate that. 

When to submit a design request

A design request can be used for:

• Social media graphics
• Logo and brand identity 
• Mascot 
• Website banners
• Landing pages
• Advertisements
• Presentation decks
• Email graphics
• Infographics
• Print materials
• Video assets

In short, you will be submitting a design request when:

• You are launching a new product or service 
• Or planning content for marketing campaigns 
• You are planning social media content for one platform or many 
• Or perhaps organizing an event and need to work on its branding 
• You are updating a brand or digital marketing assets 

Regardless of the format, the goal remains the same – provide enough information for a designer to make informed creative decisions without relying on assumptions.

What a design request is:

• A strategic blueprint outlining the “who, what, where, when, and why.”
• An outline that tells the designer where they can play creatively and where they must adhere strictly to brand rules.
• A single source of truth that holds all assets (logos, copy, photos) in one accessible place.

What a design request isn’t:

• A vague suggestion.
• A rigid, pixel-by-pixel dictation that leaves no room for the designer’s creativity and actual expertise.
• A scattered trail of Slack messages, emails, and voice notes on random details about the design. 

Why do you need a clear design request? 

A design request is not just an administrative step in the creative process. It is the foundation upon which the entire design project is built. 

• For in-house designers, a clear brief ensures their time is spent designing rather than chasing stakeholders for missing information.
• When working with freelance designers, a clear brief provides the context they need to understand your business, goals, and expectations without multiple rounds of clarification.
• For design agencies, it aligns everyone involved in the project and reduces the risk of miscommunication and scope creep. 
• When collaborating with unlimited design services, a clear brief helps projects move through the workflow faster, leading to quicker turnaround times and maximized ROI of the monthly fee.

A clearly drafted brief has the following benefits: 

• It reduces revisions. Endless revisions often come from missing details or misalignment with the concept. A well-documented design brief captures the essential details and reduces revisions. 
• It helps designers make better creative decisions. With the right details in one place, designers start with better context. In other words, they start without assumptions. Therefore, they know where to be more creative and where to play by the book. 
• It speeds up project timelines. Most design bottlenecks come from missing details leading to confusion. Or unwanted revisions and subsequent approval timelines. Clear design requests avoid these hiccups and speed up project timelines. 
• It improves the quality of collaboration. There are multiple stakeholders in most design projects. There are multiple people who have a say on what should and shouldn’t be done with the design. Clear design requests help accumulate scattered details so all stakeholders are on the same page. 

How to Write a Design Request: 6 Essential Elements Every Brief Should Include

1. Business objective and campaign goals 

The difference between art and design for brands is that every design created for a brand exists for a specific reason. 

A common mistake is starting a design request by describing the asset without explaining what it needs to achieve. 

Several design requests talk about the “what” without describing the “why.” But the why gives designers a clearer perspective. 

The difference is context. When designers understand the objective, they can make better decisions about layout, messaging, hierarchy, and visual direction.

Evidently, a design created to nurture leads will look different from one created to build brand awareness or educate an audience. So, before submitting a request, clarify:

• What business goal does this design support?
• What action should viewers take?
• What message should they remember?

The more clearly you define the objective, the more impactful and intentional the final design will be.

For instance, the ads here from Subway and WhatsApp both have different goals. One is for immediate conversion (to make a sale happen) and the latter is for user acquisition. Hence, the designs and messaging are both different. Clear design requests help differentiate this. 

2. Target audience profile 

Remember, while the design is technically created for the brand that owns it, it is designed to talk to people who will be using the product or service. The people who will be making a purchase decision. 

That is why audience information is one of the most important components of any design request. A designer needs to understand who the design is speaking to in order to arrive at the right visual language. 

Instead of “design for a young audience,” include relevant details like:

• Age range
• Industry or profession
• Customer type
• Interests and preferences
• Challenges or pain points
• Location, if relevant

Painting a clear picture of the target audience persona helps designers create visuals that connect.

3. Exact dimensions and format 

The same design might look different in different settings and on different screen sizes. So, the exact dimensions of your design file and the formats in which you want them are details you cannot miss in your design request. 

So, include details such as:

• Platform or placement
• Required dimensions
• File format
• Number of versions needed

Of course, you can always request your designer to resize your design later, but planning ahead helps them plan and execute the overall layout and hierarchy better. And it helps them create adaptable designs that do not miss any details. Also, it helps eliminate any delays arising from resizing and switching formats just before the campaign. 

4. Finalized copy and messaging 

Design and copy work together. The text included in a design influences the layout, spacing, hierarchy, and overall visual direction.

Providing finalized copy along with your brief helps designers create balanced compositions instead of adding placeholder text and adjusting layouts later.

Include:

• Main headline
• Supporting text
• Call-to-action
• Product details
• Promotional information

With these details, the designer knows exactly what information needs emphasis. If the copy is not finalized yet, mention what is confirmed and what is still pending. This helps avoid unnecessary redesign work.

5. Core brand assets and brand guidelines 

Ever come across a design that looks really good, works really well across platforms, but still does not “feel like your brand?” That often happens when the brand guidelines are not clear or if any of your brand assets are missing in the design request. 

Without the core brand assets like the brand color palette, brand fonts, logo and other elements that shape your brand identity, a designer cannot fully understand what your brand visually looks like. 

So, include these with your design request: 

• Logo files
• Brand guidelines
• Approved fonts
• Color palette
• Photography style
• Illustration style
• Previous examples of branded designs

Don’t have your brand guidelines document yet? The KIMP team can help you design it. 

6. Visual references 

This one little add-on can add so much more value to your design requests. Visual references can clearly establish do’s and don’ts. Include design samples of what your design should look like and what it shouldn’t look like. 

This is because some design expectations are difficult to explain with words alone. When you say you want something premium or something modern, different designers have different interpretations. 

Visual references help remove that ambiguity. Useful references include:

• Previous designs you liked
• Competitor examples
• Screenshots
• Mood boards
• Inspiration images

These visual references communicate the direction, style, and feeling you are aiming for.

Why Do Teams Still Struggle With Design Requests?

Knowing what to include in your design request is only half the problem. Even teams that understand every element covered above still end up with requests that are incomplete, delayed, or hard to track down later. More often than not, the issue is with the process the request has to survive before it actually reaches a designer. 

Request details are scattered across too many channels 

One of the most common issues with design requests is the platform(s) that come into the picture. It starts with some discussion on chat, details shared via email, files through cloud folders, questions answered in a call and so on. 

Together, it means that whoever picks up the design request has to reconstruct it from memory or by scrolling back through several conversations.

Unlimited design services like KIMP tackle this structural problem through proprietary project management tools. For instance, when you sign up for a KIMP subscription, all your requests are created and can be tracked through KIMP360. 

Teams forget to include key details 

Sometimes you know what to include in your design request but when you actually draft the request, you might miss a few details. For instance, you mention the formats for your files but forget to talk about the dimensions; you talk about fonts but forget to include details about secondary colors to include.

Having a clear and structured form where you can just fill out the details simplifies things. That’s exactly what the Guided Request Form on KIMP360 is all about. 

With the standard dimensions for common social media platforms pre-filled for you, and the option to select output file formats and source file formats all in one place, creating a design request is easier than ever. 

The same type of request gets drafted again and again 

A lot of design requests aren’t new. They’re last month’s newsletter graphic with this month’s theme updated, or last quarter’s promotional banner, with a handful of details changed. 

Rewriting a nearly identical brief from scratch each time is where a lot of time gets lost. This is where KIMP360’s Duplicate Requests feature is handy. This feature clones a previous request, instructions and brand assets included, so you only update what’s changing. 

Save as Template goes further for anything reused indefinitely, keeping it in a shared library the rest of the team can pull from too. Duplicate Requests & Templates in KIMP360 help save time when creating similar requests.

There isn’t enough time to write a request 

Another big reason why several teams find design requests challenging is the lack of time. But rushed requests might miss out on key details or have gaps or ambiguities that cause unwanted delays. 

But what if AI can speed things up? After all, about 78% of design professionals find AI to be effective in improving the efficiency of their workflows. That’s what the KIMP360 AI-powered request form is all about. Describe what you need designed in a few simple words and let AI create your brief for you. Saves significant time and effort. 

Creating Design Requests: FAQs

Time to Transform Your Design Workflow 

At the end of the day, writing a great design request isn’t just another administrative task to complete. It’s about eliminating friction that burns through your marketing budget and delays your campaign launches. A strong plan, all the right details and a few simple tweaks can save you time and strengthen your rapport with your design team. Most importantly, it helps ensure that your designs are aligned with your ideas. 

Looking for a creative partner who simplifies the whole process for you? Sign up for a KIMP subscription. 

Register now and start your 7-day free trial.