Brand & website resources
Prepare your project with a practical brand and website brief, then explore the Brand Growth Podcast for audio resources on customer insights, marketing, goals and business planning.
Plan your brand and website project
A useful brief starts with the business problem. Use these questions to prepare for a conversation with a creative partner. You do not need every answer before getting in touch.
1. Define the goal and the audience
What is changing in your business, and why does the project matter now? Describe the people you want to reach, the offer they need to understand and the action you want them to take. For a website, that action might be requesting a quote, booking a call or buying a product.
Choose an outcome you can evaluate after launch. Explain how you currently measure it, or note that you need a starting baseline.
2. Gather your brand and content
List what you already have: a logo, colour palette, typefaces, brand guidelines, photography, videos and written content. Mark what can stay and what needs work. Share a few references and explain what you like about them, such as the clarity of the message or ease of navigation.
If the branding and website are part of one project, identify which brand decisions need to be agreed before the website design begins.
3. Describe what the website must do
Start with the pages and tasks your visitors need. Note requirements such as enquiry forms, payments, booking, a product catalogue, property listings, multiple languages or connections to other systems. Separate essentials for launch from improvements that can come later.
Also explain who will update the site. The platform and technology should follow the scope, integrations and maintenance needs of the project.
4. Plan the reviews and handover
Share your preferred launch date, any fixed deadline and a realistic budget range. Identify who supplies content, who gives feedback and who approves the final work. For a remote project, agree on time zones and a way to collect feedback in one place.
Include the handover in the brief: final brand files, website access, training and any ongoing support you may need.
A short brief you can copy
Our business and offer: …
Who we want to reach: …
The problem we want to solve: …
What we need created: …
What we already have: …
Essential website features: …
Budget range and preferred launch date: …
Approvals and ongoing support: …
Brand and website brief: common questions
Should branding or website design come first?
If the business needs a new identity, agree on the brand direction before applying it to the website. If your existing identity still fits, a website project can use those assets. State what is already approved and what can change in your brief.
What should I include to get a useful project quote?
Describe the deliverables, essential features, available content, review process and target launch date. Share a budget range so the proposed scope can reflect your priorities. Separate one-off design and development work from hosting, domain renewals, software licences and ongoing support; ask which costs are included.
How should I plan a realistic launch date?
Work backwards from any fixed deadline. Allow time for content preparation, design approval, development, testing and final review. Tell your creative partner about dependencies such as photography, copywriting or decisions from other stakeholders. Agree a schedule after the scope and responsibilities are clear.
What should I ask for at handover?
Agree which final files, account access and instructions you will receive. For branding, clarify file formats and usage guidance. For a website, confirm who controls the domain and hosting, who can edit content, how backups are handled and what support continues after launch. Record these items in the agreed scope.
How this works in real projects
For VMG Properties, branding came first and the website followed as a separate commission. The website scope included property listings, search filters and viewing enquiries.
Havilah Clover Movers also commissioned branding before its later website project. Its website presents moving services and collects the details needed for a moving quote. These examples show why a brief should describe the visitor’s task as well as the visual direction.
Explore our branding and web design and development services, or bring your brief to a conversation.