# Logo Brief Writer > Writes a complete creative brief for a logo or identity project - business context, a three-adjective personality axis, deliverables and constraints, competitive territory, rounds and timeline, and concrete success criteria. Use when someone asks "write a logo brief", "brief a designer for our rebrand", "what do I send the identity studio", or is kicking off a brand identity engagement. Do NOT use for generating the brand name itself - use brand-naming instead; for documenting the finished identity system's usage rules, use brand-guidelines; for briefing broader creative direction, use moodboard-builder. - Skill: `skillmedev/logo-brief-writer` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add skillmedev/logo-brief-writer` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/skillmedev/logo-brief-writer/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Design & Media - Author: SkillMedev (https://skillmd.com/u/skillmedev) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/skillmedev/logo-brief-writer --- # Logo Brief Writer A strong creative brief is the contract between strategy and design: it gives the designer everything they need and nothing they don't. The costly failure is the vague brief - "professional but approachable, we'll know it when we see it" - which produces vague concepts, three rounds of subjective feedback, and a dispute about what was in scope. This procedure forces the decisions that vagueness defers. ## Operating procedure ### Step 1: Gather inputs Extract these before writing a word. If the client cannot answer, that gap goes in the brief as an open question - a brief written on silently-guessed inputs produces vague logos. - What the brand does, who its primary customer is, what problem it solves, and what makes it distinct from the nearest competitor. - Project stage: new brand, rebrand, or refresh - and the reason for the project now. This changes everything about creative direction (a refresh must preserve equity; a rebrand must explain what is being escaped). - Any locked constraints: existing assets to retain, color restrictions, trademark concerns, naming already fixed (if naming is open, route to brand-naming first - a logo cannot be briefed against an unsettled name). - Budget band and hard deadline, if known. Default: unknown, flagged as open. ### Step 2: Define the personality in threes Choose exactly three adjectives for how the brand should feel, and exactly three it must never feel. This is/isn't axis is the single most useful constraint a logo designer gets. Reject generic words - "professional", "innovative", "modern" describe nothing. Push to specific, evocative language: "irreverent but precise", "warm and structural", "technical without coldness". If a proposed adjective would also describe every competitor, it fails. ### Step 3: Specify deliverables and constraints List every required deliverable explicitly - ambiguity here is where scope creep lives: - Primary mark, wordmark, icon/symbol, lockup variations. - Color versions: full color, single color, reversed. - Minimum sizes and primary surfaces: app icon, favicon (must survive 16px), signage, business card. - File formats: vector source files, PNG exports. - State explicitly whether a brand guidelines document is in or out of scope - misaligned expectations here are the most common cause of identity-project disputes. If in scope, brand-guidelines covers what it should contain. ### Step 4: Describe audience and competitive territory Describe the target audience in behavioral terms, not demographics alone ("evaluates tools in a free trial before talking to sales" beats "25-45, urban"). Then run a short competitive audit: name 3 to 5 direct competitors and the visual territory each occupies (their colors, mark style, tone). The brief must make clear which territory is claimed and where the open space is - this converts "make it distinctive" into a map. ### Step 5: Set process terms State the number of initial concepts expected (2-3 is standard; more dilutes each), the number of revision rounds included (2 is standard; unlimited rounds is a red flag for both sides), the feedback consolidation rule (one voice delivers merged feedback, not five stakeholders separately), and the final delivery date. ### Step 6: Write success criteria End with one paragraph on what success looks like, in scenario form: "The logo should feel at home on a Series A pitch deck and on a hoodie. A customer seeing it for the first time should sense precision and warmth without being told anything about the company." Concrete criteria give the designer a target and give stakeholders a feedback framework that isn't purely subjective. ## Template: logo brief ``` LOGO / IDENTITY BRIEF - [FILL: brand name] CONTEXT What we do: [FILL: one sentence] Primary customer: [FILL: behavioral description] Problem we solve: [FILL] Nearest competitor and how we differ: [FILL] Stage and reason: [FILL: new / rebrand / refresh - and why now] PERSONALITY AXIS We are: [FILL: adjective 1], [FILL: 2], [FILL: 3] We are never: [FILL: adjective 1], [FILL: 2], [FILL: 3] DELIVERABLES Marks: [FILL: primary mark / wordmark / icon / lockups] Color versions: full color, single color, reversed Primary surfaces: [FILL: e.g. app icon, favicon @16px, signage, card] File formats: vector source + PNG exports Guidelines document: [FILL: in scope / out of scope] CONSTRAINTS Must retain: [FILL: existing assets, or "none"] Restrictions: [FILL: color, trademark, category conventions, or "none"] COMPETITIVE TERRITORY [FILL: competitor 1 - visual territory occupied] [FILL: competitor 2 - ...] [FILL: competitor 3 - ...] Open territory we will claim: [FILL] PROCESS Initial concepts: [FILL: 2-3] Revision rounds: [FILL: 2] Feedback channel: one consolidated voice: [FILL: name] Final delivery: [FILL: date] SUCCESS CRITERIA [FILL: one paragraph, scenario form - where must it feel at home, what should a first-time viewer sense without explanation] OPEN QUESTIONS [FILL: anything the client could not answer - flagged, not guessed] ``` ## Deliverable Produce a completed brief using the template: context, the three/three personality axis, an explicit deliverables and scope list, a 3-5 competitor territory map, process terms (concepts, rounds, date), and scenario-form success criteria - with unanswered inputs listed as open questions rather than silently filled. ## Do NOT - Do not accept "professional" or "innovative" as personality adjectives; they constrain nothing. - Do not leave the guidelines document unaddressed - it is the number-one scope dispute. - Do not write the brief before the name is settled. - Do not list demographics as the audience description without behavior. - Do not skip the anti-adjectives; "what it must never feel like" prevents more bad concepts than the positive list. - Do not promise unlimited revisions or five-way feedback; both destroy the work and the relationship. ## Quality bar - Every [FILL] field is either filled or moved to Open Questions - no silent blanks. - Each "we are" adjective would not describe all 3-5 audited competitors. - Deliverables list is exhaustive enough that a quote could be written from it alone. - Success criteria name at least two concrete surfaces or scenarios. - A designer could start sketching from this brief without a single clarifying call.