How to brief a studio (or anyone making your ads)
A good brief is short and specific. It does not need mood-board theatre. It needs the facts a stranger would get wrong if you did not write them down: who the buyer is, what must never change about the product, and where the pictures will live.
Who is the buyer?
One or two sentences beat a demographic spreadsheet. “New parents who already buy fragrance-free lotion and shop on their phone at night” is usable. “Everyone, luxury but affordable, viral” is not.
If you have a competitor or a reference account whose customers feel right, say why — the light, the honesty, the humor — rather than “make it exactly like them.”
What must stay true
List the non-negotiables: the exact spelling on the label, a registered gold, a cap that is matte not glossy, a bottle that is 30ml not “a bit taller because it looked nicer.” These are the details that, if they drift, make the picture useless no matter how pretty the set is.
Also say what you do not want shown: a toddler’s hand, a marble bathroom if that is not your brand, a holiday prop in July.
Where the files will run
Amazon main image, Etsy cover, Shopify grid, Meta feed, TikTok story — each wants a different crop and a different amount of breathing room. If you only need a white-background hero, say so. If you also need stories, say that up front so the composition is not built only for a square.
On our order form this is the “where will you use them?” step. Ticking the real channels is more useful than ticking all of them “just in case.”
Style words that mean something
Clean studio, lifestyle, luxe, natural, playful, seasonal: pick the ones you actually mean. Add one concrete note (“dried citrus, no pink,” “same oak we use on the site”) instead of a paragraph of adjectives.
If you want to be surprised, say that too. Surprise works when the must-keep list is solid.
References, used well
Two or three pictures you like, with a sentence about each, are enough. “This shadow” or “this amount of mess on the table, not the product itself” helps. A folder of twenty unrelated screenshots usually cancels itself out.
Do not send another brand's copyrighted campaign and ask for a copy. Ask for the quality you noticed.
What happens after you press send
A clear brief does not remove the need for a revision round; it makes that round about taste instead of corrections. Include your name, a working email, the products, the photos, and anything you would be sad to explain after the first delivery.
If you are filling in our form, you have already been asked for most of this. The empty optional box at the end is not a test — it is the place for the one fact you know we cannot guess.