How to Brief a Web Designer on Brand Identity
Most disappointing websites aren't a design failure — they're a brief failure. Here's what a web designer actually needs from you.
"Make it modern and clean" is not a brief. It's a wish. A web designer handed that sentence will build a generic site, because generic is the only safe interpretation. The founders who get websites that look like their company give their designer something specific: the brand system, the business goal, and the constraints — before design starts.
Start with the brand system, not the website
Your designer needs your brandbook or, at minimum: logo files (vector, not a screenshot), color values, fonts, imagery direction, and voice guidelines. If you don't have a brandbook yet, say so — a good designer will either work from your existing assets or flag that identity work should come first. What they can't do is invent your brand while building your site; that produces a site that looks fine and feels like nobody. The same discipline applies when you brief a branding agency — the brief is the work.
The six things every web brief must answer
- Goal: what should the site make visitors do? Book calls, buy, apply, sign up? One primary action per page.
- Audience: who visits, what do they already know, and what objection must the site overcome?
- Pages: the actual page list and what each page must say — not "about, services, contact" copied from a competitor.
- Content: who writes it, and when? Content delays kill more launches than design revisions.
- References: three sites you like and why — a specific section, a feeling, a structure. "I like Apple" helps no one.
- Constraints: budget, deadline, platform (Webflow, WordPress, Shopify), and anything non-negotiable like legal copy or integrations.
Show, don't just tell
Mood boards beat adjectives. If you have a brand mood board, hand it over. If not, collect 5–10 screenshots of sites, packaging, or ads that feel like your brand and annotate what you like about each. Equally valuable: examples of what you don't want. Designers learn as much from "never this" as from "more like this." And if your brand needs landing pages that convert, say which pages are conversion pages versus brand pages — they get designed differently.
The one-sentence test: if your brief can't be summarized as "a site for [audience] that makes them [action] and feels [three adjectives]," it's not ready. Fill the blanks before you hire.
Red flags in the designer's response
A designer who starts designing before asking about goals, content, and audience is selling decoration, not a website. Similarly, beware fixed-price quotes given before the page list exists, and portfolios where every site looks the same — that designer has one style, and it may not be yours. The right response to a good brief is questions: about your customers, your funnel, and your brand rules. That's the designer you want.
Need the brand system first? Our Six Stairs case shows what happens when identity and web are built together. Book a free call and we'll tell you honestly whether your brand is ready for a website brief.
FAQ
Do I need a full brandbook before building a website?
Not necessarily a full book, but you need the core system: logo, colors, fonts, and voice. Without those, the site will invent a brand you didn't choose.
Should I write the copy or the designer?
Decide upfront and put it in the brief. Designer-written copy is faster but generic; founder-written copy is specific but slow. The best results usually pair your draft with professional editing.
How many revision rounds should I expect?
Two to three structured rounds is standard. Unlimited revisions usually means the brief was vague — tighten the brief instead of buying more rounds.
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