“Your budget should be an instrumental part of the design brief from the beginning”
A detailed and bespoke design brief can take many forms — my preference is to cover as many platforms as the clients feel comfortable with. For example, this could be meetings (both at our offices, show homes and on site), visual references (Pinterest, magazine cut outs and photos, for instance) and moodboards, together with any examination of previous work and existing design schemes.
Communication is key — not only to get an idea of your aims and aspirations (which may change over the process), but also to dismiss some ideas or fill in gaps where you may not be sure what to do or how best to achieve what you have in mind.
I see my principal responsibility as guiding the design process in order to deliver your dream home, and ensuring clients feel comfortable with the bespoke design process (which can be daunting).
Collectively, as an architectural team, we will also contribute ideas, help illustrate our suggestions, show how certain interior features can be achieved, present design opportunities and push the brief into new areas if needed.
The other fundamental elements of preparing a good design brief are the more mundane but crucial factors of planning permission and budget. It is important that your budget is an instrumental part of the brief from the beginning — a good designer will use this intelligently to shape the entire process so that what is drawn can be built.
If a turnkey service is your preferred route then your brief, at some point, will need to include information on internal doors, skirting boards, profiles, fittings, flooring, lighting, etc. The best way to gather this information is visually (Pinterest and photos), but be specific. An image of a lovely kitchen may be misleading if it was only the worktop you liked. Be clear and order samples if needed.