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Creative brief interpreter

Parses an incoming creative brief into a structured action plan — extracting design requirements, brand constraints, platform specs, deliverables, and success criteria, then flagging every ambiguity or gap before…

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Purpose

Convert a raw creative brief — however vague, bloated, or contradictory — into a clean, structured production plan that separates hard requirements from preferences, surfaces every missing spec, and gives the designer a defensible checklist to build against and to send back for sign-off.

When to Use

Invoke this skill when the user asks to:

  • Interpret, parse, or break down a creative brief they received
  • Turn a client or stakeholder brief into a design task list
  • Figure out what a brief is actually asking for before starting
  • Identify gaps, contradictions, or missing specs in a brief
  • Extract platform dimensions and deliverable requirements from a brief
  • Translate marketing-speak into concrete design requirements

Inputs Required

Before starting, collect:

  • The brief: Pasted brief text, bullet notes, or email — whatever the designer received
  • Deliverable type: Social ad set, landing page, banner suite, brand identity, presentation, video storyboard, etc.
  • Primary platform(s): Where the work will run (Meta, Google Display, print, web, etc.)
  • Brand guidelines status: Do brand guidelines exist and are they attached, referenced, or absent?
  • Deadline: Delivery date or round-based timeline if known
  • Approver: Who signs off (client, brand manager, creative director)

If deliverable type or platform is missing, infer the most likely one from the brief language and flag the assumption explicitly in the Open Questions section.

Instructions

Step 1: Classify the Brief

Determine what kind of brief this is, because it changes what "complete" means:

  • Execution brief: Specifies exact deliverables and specs — the job is to build, not conceive
  • Concept brief: Asks for creative direction or ideas — needs interpretation and options
  • Hybrid brief: Wants both a concept and specific outputs State the classification in one line, then proceed accordingly.

Step 2: Extract the Core Objective

Separate the stated business goal from the creative task.

  • Business objective: What outcome the brand wants (awareness, clicks, signups, sales)
  • Creative task: What the designer must actually produce to serve that objective
  • Success metric: How the brand will judge whether the work worked (CTR, conversion, brand lift, stakeholder approval) If the brief states a goal but no metric, note it — briefs without a success measure produce endless revision cycles.

Step 3: Build the Requirements Table

Parse the brief into five requirement categories. Sort every line of the brief into exactly one:

  1. Deliverables: Each distinct asset, with quantity (e.g., "3 static ads + 1 animated GIF version")
  2. Design requirements: Mandatory visual elements — logo placement, imagery style, layout constraints, mandatory copy/CTA
  3. Brand constraints: Color codes, typefaces, tone, do's and don'ts pulled from guidelines or brief language
  4. Platform specs: Exact dimensions, aspect ratios, file formats, max file size, safe zones, text-overlay limits per platform
  5. Timeline/process: Rounds of revision, review checkpoints, final delivery date, handoff format

For platform specs, fill in known standard dimensions when the brief omits them (e.g., Meta feed 1080×1080, Stories 1080×1920) and label these as standard spec applied so the designer knows they weren't in the brief.

Step 4: Separate Requirements from Preferences

Re-read every line and label it:

  • Must-have: Non-negotiable — failing this means the work is rejected
  • Preference: Directional guidance the designer can interpret
  • Vague/unactionable: Language like "make it pop," "modern but timeless," "clean" — flag for clarification, do not silently interpret This is the highest-value step: designers lose most time building against preferences they treated as requirements.

Step 5: Flag Gaps, Conflicts, and Open Questions

Produce a numbered list of everything blocking a clean start:

  • Missing specs: Anything a designer cannot proceed without (final copy, logo files, dimensions, color codes)
  • Internal conflicts: Contradictory instructions (e.g., "minimal" but "include six product features")
  • Assumptions made: Any inference filled in during Steps 1–4, stated so the approver can confirm or correct Write each as a direct question the designer can copy-paste back to the approver.

Step 6: Produce the Action Plan

Convert the parsed requirements into an ordered build sequence:

  • Prerequisites to gather before starting (assets, approvals, answers to open questions)
  • Production steps in logical order
  • Review checkpoints mapped to the timeline
  • Definition of done, tied to the Step 2 success metric

Output Format

  • Structure: Six labeled sections following the steps; the requirements breakdown rendered as a table
  • Length: 600–900 words
  • Format: Structured document — short prose for classification and objective, a table for requirements, numbered lists for open questions and action plan
  • Sections: Brief Classification → Core Objective → Requirements Table (5 categories) → Must-Have vs. Preference → Open Questions & Conflicts → Action Plan
  • Tone: Precise creative producer — decisive, non-fluffy, protective of the designer's time; names problems plainly rather than smoothing them over

Quality Checklist

Before delivering output, verify:

  • [ ] Every distinct deliverable in the brief is counted with a quantity
  • [ ] Platform specs include exact dimensions and formats; any applied standard spec is labeled as such
  • [ ] Each requirement is labeled must-have, preference, or vague/unactionable — none left unclassified
  • [ ] Every vague phrase ("make it pop," "clean," "modern") is flagged, not silently interpreted
  • [ ] Open Questions are written as copy-paste-ready questions to the approver
  • [ ] Action plan ends with a definition of done tied to the stated success metric

Notes

  • The single biggest failure mode in creative work is treating a preference as a requirement — Step 4 exists to prevent revision spirals, so never skip it.
  • If the brief contains no success metric, say so directly; unmeasured work invites unlimited "not quite right" feedback.
  • When brand guidelines are referenced but not attached, list "obtain brand guidelines" as the first prerequisite in the action plan — do not guess at hex codes or typefaces.
  • For concept briefs, note that requirements will be looser by design and shift the emphasis toward clarifying the success metric and creative territory rather than exact specs.

How to use this skill

This file is a Claude Code skill in Anthropic's standard format — markdown with YAML frontmatter at the top.

Installing in Claude Code:

  • ~/.claude/skills/<folder-name>/SKILL.md — auto-loads in every session anywhere on your machine (recommended for skills you'll use across multiple projects)
  • <your-project>/.claude/skills/<folder-name>/SKILL.md — auto-loads only when working in that project (recommended for project-specific skills)

Restart Claude Code or open a new session to register.

Using in Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Gemini, or other AI tools:

  1. Drag this file into a new chat, or copy and paste its contents
  2. Send your task or request as your next message — the AI will apply the skill where it fits

For Claude Code skill details: https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/skills