What an illustrator brief should accomplish
A useful brief establishes the reader, story promise, recurring-character rules, visual mood, essential art information, production format, approval process, and final deliverables. It gives the illustrator a dependable starting point while leaving room for stronger visual solutions.
Brief, manuscript, and storyboard: three different jobs
| Document | What belongs there | What to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Manuscript | The final words the reader will see, in reading order | Long production instructions inside the story text |
| Illustrator brief | Audience, visual facts, character rules, mood, format, rights, files, and approvals | Directing every object, pose, crop, and camera angle |
| Storyboard | Page turns, story beats, text placement needs, and essential art notes | Treating a rough page map as an unchangeable final layout |
Write art notes only when the picture must add information
An art note is useful when the words do not reveal a required visual fact: a hidden clue, a recurring prop, a character attribute, a historical detail, an action needed for the next page, or a joke carried entirely by the picture.
“Show the entire room from above, copy this artist’s style, put every object on my list in the scene, and place the character in the lower-left corner.”
“The blue key must be visible behind the teapot, but the child should not notice it yet. The composition and point of view are open.”
Use the free 32-page storyboard when you are ready to place those essential moments across page turns.