How to brief a motion design studio (and what to send before kickoff)
A clear brief is the fastest way to a better product video. Here is exactly what to send a motion design studio before kickoff, with a simple checklist.
The quality of a product video is mostly decided before production begins. A studio can only be as sharp as the brief it is given, and the good news is that a useful brief is short. It does not need to be a polished document. It needs to answer a handful of questions honestly.
The five questions a brief has to answer
1. Who is watching?
Be specific. "Founders of small construction companies who manage job photos on their own phones" is a brief. "SMBs" is not. The narrower the audience, the easier it is to write a line that makes them feel understood.
2. What do they believe before they press play?
Every viewer arrives with an assumption: that the problem is unsolvable, that the tools are all too expensive, that the current workaround is fine. The video exists to change that belief, so we need to know what it is.
3. What is the one thing they should remember?
Not three things. One. If you cannot choose, that is worth knowing early, because choosing is the first piece of work we will do together.
4. Where will the video live?
Homepage hero, sales email, launch post and paid social all call for different lengths and formats. Tell us every placement up front so the versions are planned together instead of cropped afterwards.
5. What should happen next?
Sign up, book a demo, join a waitlist. The ending of the video is written backwards from this.
What to send
- Product access or Figma files. We animate your real interface, so we need to see it. Prototypes and mockups are fine if the product is still in development.
- Brand assets. Logo, colours, typefaces and any existing guidelines.
- Videos you like, and ones you don't. References save days of guessing. Tell us what you like about each one: the pacing, the tone, the look.
- Your deadline, and what is driving it. A launch date is different from a preference, and we plan differently for each.
- Who gives feedback. One clear decision-maker makes every round faster.
What you don't need
You do not need a script, a storyboard or a finished idea. Those are our job. You also do not need the product to be finished. Some of the strongest launch videos are made from designs before the first line of production code ships.
What happens after the brief
Once we have the brief, the work moves through five stages: discovery, script and storyboard, animation, sound and polish, and delivery. You approve the story on paper before anything is animated, which is why most projects finish within two to six weeks without endless revision loops.
If you have answers to the five questions above, you already have a brief. Send it over and we will reply within one business day.