Creative Brief

---
name: creative-brief
description: "Brief a designer or writer so they can make the piece without guessing the strategy. Use when the user mentions creative brief, design brief, copy brief, brief a designer, or asks for a creative brief. Marketing skill by Yasir Jilani."
license: MIT
compatibility: Agent Skills standard. No network access, extra packages, or credentials required.
metadata:
  author: Yasir Jilani
  version: "1.0.0"
  domain: marketing
---

<!-- GENERATED FILE - edits here are overwritten by scripts/generate.py.
     Edit the 'creative-brief' entry in source/, then run:
       python3 scripts/generate.py && python3 scripts/validate.py
     See CONTRIBUTING.md. -->

# Creative Brief

Brief a designer or writer so they can make the piece without guessing the strategy.

## When to use this skill

Use this skill when the user:

- creative brief
- design brief
- copy brief
- brief a designer

## When not to use this skill

- The user wants a different domain's specialist skill.
- The task requires a licensed professional to decide, and the user only needs a referral note rather than a draft.
- The request asks you to deceive, evade a control, or hide material facts.

## Professional boundary

Do not invent testimonials, reviews, metrics, or claims the user cannot support. Do not draft spam, cloaking, fake scarcity, or impersonation.

## Operating boundaries

- Use only information the user provides or files they explicitly ask you to read. Do not invent metrics, laws, citations, prices, credentials, or clinical facts.
- Do not ask for passwords, API keys, tokens, seed phrases, one-time codes, or payment card data.
- Do not send data to an external service, install packages, or add network calls as part of this skill.
- Separate facts, assumptions, and recommendations. If a required input is missing, state the assumption or ask one focused question.
- If the user asks you to deceive a person, evade a control, forge a record, or cause harm, stop. Offer a legitimate alternative.
- Work product that affects money, employment, health, safety, or legal rights is a draft for a qualified human to review before it is used.

## Inputs to collect

- The audience and the action
- The single message
- Mandatories and brand limits
- Examples of work they like or dislike

## Workflow


### 1. Job of the piece

What the reader should think, feel, or do. Pick the do.
### 2. Message

One message. Supporting points are labeled supporting.
### 3. Mandatories

Legal lines, logos, and words that must appear, supplied by the user. Do not invent legal lines.
### 4. Constraints

Format, size, and deadline.
### 5. References

What good looks like, and what to avoid, with a reason.
### 6. Done

How the draft will be judged, so review is not a taste lottery.

## Output

Deliver a **creative brief**.

- Purpose of this creative brief, in two sentences.
- Facts the user supplied, listed separately from assumptions.
- The work itself, in the structure the workflow names.
- Open questions, risks, and the single next action with an owner.
- What a qualified reviewer still needs to confirm, if the domain is regulated.

## Quality bar

- Every number, date, name, and citation came from the user or is marked as an assumption.
- The artifact can be used without reading this skill again.
- Recommendations are specific enough that someone could accept or reject them.
- Boundaries were respected: no credentials requested, no unsupported professional claim, no deception.

## Example

### Scenario

Lena Ortiz, marketing lead at Fieldnote in Edmonton, needs a creative brief by 30 September 2026. A designer received 'make it pop' and a deadline, with the offer still undecided.

### Example data

```text
From: Lena Ortiz, marketing lead
Organization: Fieldnote, Edmonton
Date: 14 September 2026
Needed by: 30 September 2026

A designer received 'make it pop' and a deadline, with the offer still undecided.

The audience and the action: people who already buy from Fieldnote
The single message: Fall service page, recorded 14 September 2026. No supporting file attached
Mandatories and brand limits: Fall service page, last reviewed 14 September 2026. No owner named since
Examples of work they like or dislike: Fall service page; Email to lapsed buyers. Both unassigned as of 14 September 2026
```

### Example outcome

**Creative brief**
To: Lena Ortiz, marketing lead, Fieldnote
Date: 14 September 2026 · Needed by: 30 September 2026

**Decision**
Blocks production until the offer and the single message are written.

**What the file supports**

| Input | Value | Status |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The audience and the action | people who already buy from Fieldnote | Needs confirmation |
| The single message | Fall service page, recorded 14 September 2026. No supporting file attached | Carried into the draft |
| Mandatories and brand limits | Fall service page, last reviewed 14 September 2026. No owner named since | Carried into the draft |
| Examples of work they like or dislike | Fall service page; Email to lapsed buyers. Both unassigned as of 14 September 2026 | Needs confirmation |

**How this draft was built**

**1. Job of the piece**  
What the reader should think, feel, or do. Pick the do.

**2. Message**  
One message. Supporting points are labeled supporting.

**3. Mandatories**  
Legal lines, logos, and words that must appear, supplied by the user. Do not invent legal lines.

**4. Constraints**  
Format, size, and deadline.

**5. References**  
What good looks like, and what to avoid, with a reason.

**Deliberately not done**
- A brief that is a mood with no message.
- Hidden mandatories that appear at the final review.
- Invented legal disclaimers.

**Open items for a human**
- Confirm every row marked *Needs confirmation* above before this leaves draft.
- Anything absent from the file stayed absent. No figure, date, or name was supplied from outside it.

Next: Lena Ortiz by 30 September 2026. This is a draft, not a sign-off.

## Anti-patterns

- A brief that is a mood with no message.
- Hidden mandatories that appear at the final review.
- Invented legal disclaimers.

## Related skills

- `campaign-brief`
- `design-handoff`