Tired of endless revisions and “make it pop” feedback loops? Here’s how to guide your designers and creative team, without doing their job for them.
Giving creative feedback can feel impossible.
You know what you want — but not always how to say it.
So you end up sending one of those emails:
“Can we try something more modern?”
“It’s not quite there yet.”
“Make it pop?”
Sound familiar? You’re not alone.
Most creative projects go off track not because your team isn’t talented, but because they’re working without a map.
That’s where a Creative Brief comes in.
The real problem: your instruction (not talent)
Your designer’s job is to turn your ideas into visuals.
Your job is to give them the context and clarity to do it right.
When your feedback starts too late, after drafts are already made, you’re forcing your team to guess your vision instead of building from it.
And that’s when projects stall, budgets balloon, and everyone gets frustrated.
The fix: clarity before creative
A Creative Brief bridges the gap between your ideas and your creative team’s execution. It turns fuzzy feedback like “We want it to feel fresh” into clear direction.
That’s clarity. That’s alignment.
And it’s what every great creative collaboration starts with.
Here’s some examples of how to transform vague feedback into clear instruction:
“It’s not quite there yet, but I’ll know it when I see it.”
Why It Fails: This creates an endless feedback loop. You’re describing your reaction, not the direction. Your designer has no clue what “there” means — and now they’re guessing.
What to Say Instead: “The current version feels too corporate. I’d like to see something that feels more human and conversational, closer to the tone of our Instagram captions.”
Why this Works: Describes the gap between current and desired tone — now your team knows what to adjust.
“Can we make it pop more?”
Why It Fails: This tells your designer nothing about what kind of “pop” you mean.
Do you want more contrast? More color? A bolder headline? More energy? “Pop” is a feeling — not a direction.
What to Say Instead: “Let’s increase contrast between the text and background so it’s easier to read on mobile. Maybe we try our brand coral as the accent color — it has great energy and fits our summer campaign theme.”
Why this Works: Specific, measurable, actionable. Your team can do that.
“We want it to feel modern and clean.”
Why It Fails: Everyone thinks “modern and clean” means the same thing — until you realize your version of “modern” is Apple, and your designer’s is Y2K vaporwave minimalism.
What to Say Instead: “By modern, we mean simple typography, lots of white space, and a restrained color palette. Think Nike.com or Airbnb — confident but not cold.”
Why this Works: Defines “modern” in design terms and references recognizable visual examples.
3 critical details every creative brief (your design request) should include:
1. Purpose
What’s the goal of this project?
Are you trying to inspire action, educate, or connect new contacts?
Your creative team can only hit the target if they know what it is.
2. audience
Design is empathy made visual and a clear audience means creative work that resonates.
Get specific about who you’re talking to: what they value, where they spend time, what aesthetics they respond to.
3. Inspiration
Whether it’s a mood board built on Pinterest or Canva, a saved Instagram collection or screenshots pulled from Google, you can’t share too many examples..
Do you picture something bold and confident? Minimal and refined? Playful and warm?
Show examples of photos or visuals that embody your energy you’re going for. It’s not copying—your creative team will help translating vibe into direction.
Bonus tip: define your feedback process
Even the best brief can’t save a messy review process also known as the feedback loop.
Before creative work begins, clarify:
- How many revision rounds are included
- Who gives final approval
- How and when feedback will be shared
The clearer your process, the calmer your creative flow.
The result: better work (that you’re actually proud of) and less stress
When your team has clarity, they can create with confidence.
You’ll spend less time rewriting, redoing, or re-explaining, and more time saying, “Looks great. No notes!”
Giving great creative feedback isn’t about micromanaging.
It’s about leading with vision.
Get our creative brief template!
It includes our favorite AI prompts to build the perfect brief.
Ready to take the guesswork out of creative collaboration?
Grab our free Ultimate Guide to Logo Design which includes our Creative Brief Template—the same we use with clients when we create brand design projects.
It walks you through:
- Setting clear goals
- Defining your audience
- Articulating your brand personality
- Structuring your feedback and review process
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