Resources · Template · Free download
THE UNIVERSAL BRIEF TEMPLATE
One brief format that works on an agency, a freelancer, or an AI prompt.
Goal, audience, constraints, what done looks like, references and deadline. Fill the same six slots whether the work is going to a human or a machine, and the quality of what comes back goes up either way.
Goes well with
Most agency pain was visible in the pitch, if you knew what to ask.
Get the scorecardIf you would rather have this done with you than to you, this is the work I do. See services
One format for agencies, freelancers and AI
The reason briefing feels different for each is mostly habit. All three need the same things: the audience, the decision you want changed, the constraints, what success looks like, and what is already decided. The template covers those in a single page and works whether the recipient is an agency team or a prompt box.
The section people skip
What is already decided. Leaving it out invites work you were never going to approve, and then a conversation where everyone is annoyed. Naming the fixed constraints early is the cheapest thing in the whole process, and it pairs with the prompt patterns.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Can I really use the same brief for an agency and an AI tool?
Yes, because both fail for the same reason: missing context about audience, constraint and what success means. The difference is length rather than structure, and the template is built to work at either.
How long should a creative brief be?
One page. If it needs more, the request is probably several requests, and separating them will produce better work than a longer brief.
What if I do not know what success looks like?
Then that is the first thing to resolve, before briefing anyone. A brief without a success definition transfers the decision to whoever is doing the work, and they have less information than you do.