Brand Creative Direction

---
name: brand-creative-direction
description: Develop brand identity, visual concepts and art direction for digital, campaign, presentation, print or motion assets from an audience and brand brief.
---

# Brand and creative direction

> Size budget: 6 KB. Use for identity or creative direction, not ordinary copy correction.

## Understand the brief and constraints

Read existing brand assets, design tokens, examples and audience evidence. Identify
purpose, desired audience response, channel, accessibility, formats, dimensions,
languages, deadline and budget. Preserve established identity unless change is requested.
If the direction is unresolved, offer a small set of meaningfully different concepts,
each tied to audience needs and the brief. Do not demand concepts for a routine asset edit.
Use [marketing-strategy](../marketing-strategy/SKILL.md) for positioning and
[content-campaigns](../content-campaigns/SKILL.md) for campaign messages.

## Turn direction into usable decisions

Specify hierarchy, typography, palette, image/illustration treatment, composition,
voice, motion when relevant and examples of correct/incorrect use. Explain how choices
support the intended response. Common fonts, conventional layouts and existing colors
can be appropriate. Novelty alone is not an acceptance criterion. Avoid mandatory
light/dark themes, animation or redesign when the brief does not need them.

Reuse suitable components and tokens. For a new identity, define a small coherent
system before expanding it. Check font language coverage, licensing, readability and
loading cost. Confirm rights for references and assets; use references to understand
principles rather than copying a competitor's identity. Keep generated/placeholder
assets identified. Never fabricate customer proof or business metrics to complete a layout.

## Produce for the actual medium

For digital work inspect hierarchy, responsive behavior, focus/error states, contrast
and reduced motion as relevant. For print confirm trim/bleed, safe area, resolution,
color/export requirements and a proof appropriate to the printer. For presentations
check viewing distance and export. For motion confirm duration, safe text areas,
captions, sound rights and readability at delivery resolution. Derive channel variants
from a master; do not assume a landscape composition works unchanged in portrait.
Use available tools suited to the artifact; do not mandate a vendor, model or paid tool.

## Verify and hand off

Deliver the requested assets, a concise rationale, editable sources where applicable
and usage/export notes. Inspect rendered artifacts at intended sizes and representative
contexts; record what was actually viewed or listened to. Review with a rubric covering
brief fit, clarity, consistency, accessibility, rights and technical export quality.
State untested dimensions. Reuse the existing plan; a local creative artifact does not
authorize publishing or sending private materials to external services.

For digital accessibility, consult [WCAG 2.2](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/).