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Creative Brief Template
The kickoff call ended with 'make it feel premium', and now the designer is guessing. This one-page template turns the request into a brief: one objective, one approver, and review rules agreed before the first draft exists.
Fill it in on this page, copy it as Markdown, or import the .docx into Google Docs or Notion.
Free template · 5 sections · One page
Creative brief template
- 1
Project snapshot
Name the work before anyone argues about it.
- Goal
- Anyone who opens the brief knows what is being made, for whom, and by when.
- Owner
- Project lead
- Name the client and the project.
- State the deliverable in one line: what is being made, for which channel.
- Date the brief and give it a version number. v1 is fine.
- Set the key dates: first draft, review rounds, final delivery.
Critical: Date and version the brief. When the deliverable list grows in week three, the dated brief is what separates a paid change request from a favor.
Done when: A titled, dated, versioned brief header anyone can quote.
- 2
Objective and audience
One job, one audience, written down.
- Goal
- The asset has a single measurable job, aimed at one primary audience.
- Owner
- Client or account lead
- Write the objective as an outcome: what should change because this asset exists.
- Name one primary audience. Everyone else is secondary by definition.
- Note what the audience thinks now, and what you want them to think after.
Critical: One objective means one. A brief chasing awareness, signups, and a rebrand at once gives every reviewer a different definition of done, and the rounds multiply.
Done when: An objective a reviewer can test a draft against in one sentence.
- 3
Message and tone
If the team cannot repeat it, the audience will not.
- Goal
- Everyone can repeat the single message the asset must carry.
- Owner
- Client or strategist
- Write the single-minded proposition: the one thing the audience should take away.
- List the support points, three at most, in priority order.
- Describe tone in up to three adjectives, and name one existing example that gets it right.
- List the mandatories: logos, legal lines, claims you must or must not make.
Done when: A message section short enough to memorize, with mandatories nobody can miss.
- 4
Deliverables and constraints
Formats decided now are rounds saved later.
- Goal
- The full list of what ships, in which sizes and formats, within which limits.
- Owner
- Project lead
- List every deliverable with format and size, one line each.
- Name the channel each deliverable runs in.
- State the constraints: brand rules, budget, and existing assets to reuse.
- Write down what is out of scope, explicitly.
Done when: A deliverables list production can estimate from without a call.
- 5
Review rules and sign-off
The brief decides how feedback works, before feedback exists.
- Goal
- Reviews run on rules written in the brief, not on habits formed mid-project.
- Owner
- Project lead
- Name the reviewers, and name exactly one approver with the final word.
- Cap the feedback rounds. Two is a good default.
- Give each round a deadline, usually 48 to 72 hours, and state the silence rule: no comment by the deadline counts as approval.
- Define what counts as a revision versus new scope, and what a new-scope request costs.
Critical: Put the review rules in the brief itself, not in a kickoff call. Rounds included, revision versus new scope, what silence means. A rule that is not in the brief does not exist when you need it.
Recommended toolSimple Commenter
When the draft is ready, reviewers comment on the live website, image, or PDF itself, with no accounts, and every comment carries a status you can track. Any tool works for the review as long as comments are anchored and trackable.
Running the review itself? Use the creative asset feedback and approval template.
Done when: Review rules the client agreed to by approving the brief.
The template is tool-agnostic on purpose. Step five recommends Simple Commenter because that is the step we build for, and it starts free.
The template is process guidance, not legal advice.
What a one-page brief prevents
Most creative work does not fail in production. It fails in the gap between what was asked and what was meant. Each section of the template closes one of those gaps.
The brief that lives in a call
Rules agreed on a kickoff call are memories by round two. Section one dates and versions the brief; section five writes the rules where the client approves them.
Message by committee
Three key messages means every reviewer defends a different one. The single-minded proposition in section three is what draft two gets judged against.
Nobody owns the final yes
Feedback can come from many people, approval from one. Section five names the approver before there is anything to approve.
Scope by drift
Without a written revision-versus-new-scope line, every extra deliverable is a favor. With one, it is a change request with a price.
From brief to sign-off, one process
The brief is the first half of a fast review. The second half is collecting feedback on the asset itself instead of over email: reviewers click the exact element on the live website, image, or PDF, and every comment carries a status until it is resolved.
When your draft is ready, run the round with the creative asset feedback and approval template. It picks up exactly where this brief ends: same approver, same rounds cap, same silence rule.
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@IgnacioJadue
Clients LOVED using Simple Commenter
@Katelyn
Phantastic
@user6961b
They fixed my issue in literal seconds from emailing them
@100587018771155070259
Super handy tool. The developer is very responsive.
@neposeda
I didn't realize how much I needed this tool!
@koen.kerkvliet
Life changed in under 5 minutes
@Dsouldiva
My clients have been engaged like never before
@Jim Langman
Simple. Effective. Game Changer
@Dsouldiva
Finally, a feedback tool my clients actually enjoy
@craigfenton
A Game-Changer for Web Feedback – Worth Every Penny!
@ryanbarilla
The tool I've been searching for
@alexs89
Simple, yet ingenious
@koen.kerkvliet
Great feedback app and so easy to use!
@iamvictor
Hidden Gem
@greg319
Fantastic tool for working with clients
@devdbydesign
An Essential Tool for Enhancing Communication with Clients
@Fiorenzomi
Great product!
@gramir
Very useful product and excellent support
@Ulrich86098
Simple Commenter has changed the way I work
@Jim Langman
Deserves +1000 tacos
@IgnacioJadue
Clients LOVED using Simple Commenter
@Katelyn
Phantastic
@user6961b
They fixed my issue in literal seconds from emailing them
@100587018771155070259
Super handy tool. The developer is very responsive.
@neposeda
I didn't realize how much I needed this tool!
@koen.kerkvliet
Life changed in under 5 minutes
@Dsouldiva
My clients have been engaged like never before
@Jim Langman
Frequently asked questions
Write the next brief with the template
Grab the template above, and when the draft is ready for review, Simple Commenter starts free. Reviewers comment on the asset from a link, you track every comment to done.
No credit card required.
Related reading: the creative asset feedback and approval template, the staging site review checklist, or the website feedback tool.