What the brief may include
- Audience research, consultation, positioning and brand strategy
- Naming, visual identity, tone of voice and brand guidelines
- Campaign assets, accessible templates, photography and content
- Rollout across websites, signage, exhibitions, print or physical spaces
Distinguish identity design from a broader change programme
Look for the buyer’s underlying problem: a new organisation, a museum relaunch, a destination proposition or a brand that no longer serves its audiences. Check whether a name and strategy already exist. A brief for a visual refresh is different from one requiring discovery, stakeholder agreement and a new positioning. The distinction affects the research plan, senior involvement and number of decisions the timetable must accommodate.
Check consultation, approvals and audience responsibilities
Identify whose views must inform the work and who signs it off. A public-facing cultural or civic brand may involve several groups with different needs. Confirm whether the agency must recruit participants, run workshops, travel, supply accessible materials or document findings. Plan how feedback will be synthesised and how competing opinions become an agreed direction, rather than leaving consultation as an undefined activity.
Separate design deliverables from production commitments
Read the asset schedule and distinguish supplying artwork from printing, fabrication or installation. A museum identity could extend to visitor signage, exhibition graphics, a website and launch materials. Check licensing for fonts and imagery, ownership of source files, the number of templates and the responsibility for proofing. If the brief includes physical production, demonstrate the actual delivery arrangement and include its costs and lead times.
Choose references that explain the process and result
A portfolio of finished logos alone may not show that your agency can handle a research-led rebrand. A relevant case should explain the audience, research, stakeholder process, creative system and rollout. Match the buyer’s sector where it helps, but also compare scale and complexity. Use only outcomes you can substantiate, and check permission to name clients or provide referees in a tender response.
Find the official notice and latest documents
Start with Find a Tender and Contracts Finder. Check the relevant national portal for Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland too. Follow the notice to the buyer’s submission portal, read any amendments and verify the deadline there. NoticeSift’s source list and checking process explain how we approach this.
Useful search terms include “brand identity”, “brand strategy”, “visual identity”, “graphic design”, “place branding”. Search results and aggregator summaries are a starting point; the buyer’s current documents should drive the bid decision.