How to Work With an Illustration Client Brief (First Read to Final Files)

Most illustrators learn client work by getting it wrong on a real job. A brief lands in your inbox, you read it once, you start drawing the first idea you had, and three rounds of revisions later you find out the client wanted something they mentioned in the second paragraph. Sandra Staub, who teaches the Minimalist Art Bundle on Twotap, builds her whole class as a dry run of a commission: a fictional craft brewery hires you for an anniversary merch illustration, and you work the job end to end. What follows is her workflow, from the first read of the brief to the files you hand over.

Ask for a brief, every time

A brief is not paperwork the client owes you. It is the document that keeps both of you describing the same picture.

"Client briefs are an amazing tool to get on the same page with your client. I always ask for one, and I keep that at hand when explaining my design proposals to my clients and showing them how I translated their words into graphics."
Sandra Staub, in the lesson Client Backstory & Brief from the Minimalist Art Bundle

Note the second half of that, because it is the part most people miss. The brief is not just an input. It is what you point at later, when you present sketches and need to explain why this composition and not that one. A proposal argued from the client's own words is much harder to wave away than one argued from taste.

If your client has never written a brief, send them the questions instead. Staub's fictional client covers exactly the fields worth asking for:

• Company name, and how long they have been in the industry
• What they actually sell
• The intended use of the illustration you are being hired for
• Their positioning and brand values
• A short backstory

Her brewery has been going ten years, pushes creative twists on traditional brews, and wants a limited run of tote bags and t-shirts for its anniversary. That is enough to design against. "Make us something nice" is not.

Research the industry before you sketch anything

The step between reading the brief and drawing is the one that separates work that fits from work that merely looks good.

"After reading the client brief, research the industry and the competition by looking up label designs and illustrated merch of craft beer breweries in order to understand your client and the industry's visual environment better."
Sandra Staub, in the lesson Client Backstory & Brief

She names the goal precisely: blend into the industry's visual universe, yet still set the client apart from the masses. Both halves matter. Work that ignores category conventions reads as amateur to the client's customers. Work that only follows them is invisible on a shelf.

Practically, she opens a fresh Pinterest board per project and saves every pin that inspires her, whether that is composition, color palette, the objects themselves, or the illustration style. One board per project, not one giant board, so the references stay tied to the job they belong to.

Sketch wide, then narrow to two

Staub's ideation is deliberately unfussy. First a visual brainstorm: take the elements that could represent the client's message and sketch each of them several different ways, as many as you can think of. The extras are not waste. They become the parts bin you reach into later when a composition needs one more object to balance.

Then quick and dirty compositions, combining those elements. Her phrasing is worth keeping: more is more, in this case.

She also builds in a pause, which is unusual to see stated as a step rather than an accident:

"Take your time for this step. Maybe even take a break by engaging in a different activity for a while. One of my go-tos is to go outside or make a coffee because it relaxes me and provides my mind with more space to come up with new ideas."
Sandra Staub, in the lesson Let's Sketch

When the pile is big enough, pick the two with the most potential. Her selection criteria are questions you can actually answer:

• Do the elements represent the work and product of the client?
• Is the composition balanced yet intriguing?
• Is the message clear and easy to understand?
• If this gets printed on a shirt or a tote bag, will people want to buy it?

Two proposals, not one and not five. One gives the client nothing to react against. Five makes them do your editing for you.

Polish to the edge of finished, and stop

Both chosen sketches get worked up close to the final version, with one firm limit: no color yet. Every element should already be in place and in the shape it will keep, but the details stay rough.

The discipline here is economic. You are showing the client two directions, and one of them is going to be discarded. Finishing both properly means paying twice for a decision that has not been made.

Present in context, not on white

Staub puts each sketch onto shirt and tote bag mockups before sending. A client asked to judge a drawing floating on a white artboard is being asked to imagine the product. A client shown the tote bag is being asked to judge the product, which is the actual question.

She sources hers from Mr. Mockup, which has a free selection alongside paid bundles. Because the class is a dry run rather than a real commission, she adds a step you can borrow for personal projects: post both mockups to your own social media and let your followers vote, using a poll sticker on an Instagram story. It is a cheap read on which design has pull with people who are not you.

Deliver the right files, and only those

When the client picks a winner, Staub's default delivery is a PDF, which is what print wants, and a PNG as a general-purpose backup. Background layer toggled off, because on merch the fabric is the background.

Then the rule that protects everything you just made:

"Don't deliver original file formats such as PSD, AI, or EPS if not specifically agreed upon previously. This way you ensure your designs will not be edited without your permission."
Sandra Staub, in the lesson Prepping for Print

You own the rights to your design. If a client wants the editable files, that is a separate conversation and a separate fee. Handing over the layered source by reflex, because they asked nicely and the job is done, gives away the one thing that keeps the work yours.

The workflow, in short

• Get the brief in writing, and keep it open while you present
• Research the category before drawing, one Pinterest board per project
• Brainstorm elements wide, then compositions wide
• Narrow to two, and judge them against the brief, not your taste
• Polish both to nearly final, in black and white
• Present on mockups, in context
• Deliver PDF and PNG, background off, source files only if agreed

Sandra Staub walks the whole commission, brief to delivered files, inside the Minimalist Art Bundle on Twotap. The class resources include the full brief and the mockups she uses, so you can run the dry run yourself before a real client is watching.