Professionals
Local Caribbean brand: preparing a brief for your illustrations
You want to create a collection linked to Guadeloupe or another Caribbean territory. But “a design representing our island” is hard to interpret. A brief turns this desire into useful indications: the audience you address, meaningful local details, and the intended media. You don't need to know how to draw to prepare it well.
Summarize the project in three sentences.
Begin with the relevant region, then describe your audience. Are you addressing residents attached to the place, travelers discovering it, or regular customers of a shop? Finally, add what you want to convey: an atmosphere, a memory, humor or a little-known aspect of the area.
Avoid treating the Caribbean as a uniform backdrop. Start from your specific place, its daily scenes, and what your audience recognizes. A fictional example: “A collection about a small Guadeloupe port, for locals and visitors who enjoy its everyday life. We want to show the gestures and boats, with little text.” This focus helps more than a simple tropical motif request.
Gather references and explain why they matter.
Gather some photos of the place, objects, or details that interest you. For each reference, add a sentence: “this silhouette,” “this palette,” “this movement.” Without this precision, two people may look at the same photo and look for different things.
You can also convey a graphic mood by explaining what you like, without asking to reproduce an existing illustration. Note what you want to avoid: overly touristy caricature, too much text, a pattern that's too dense, or a particular color. These exclusions make the brief clearer.
Specify uses before finalizing designs
Specify if the design is for the front or back of a T-shirt, a label, a bag, or several media. Provide dimensions if known. Small prints and large illustrations are viewed from different distances.
List the planned textile colors and exact wording to include. Keep names, accents, and dates in a single written version. If a variation for cards or stickers is planned, note it from the start: it may require adaptation rather than a simple size reduction.
Plan validations and the items to deliver.
Appoint the person who will consolidate feedback. When multiple partners contribute, gather their comments before sharing them; conflicting requests slow adjustments. For each feedback, distinguish what to fix, graphic preferences, and discussion points.
Agree on validation steps and required files in the proposal. Illustration usage terms, variations and potential exclusivity are defined with the creator. Don’t assume an initial presentation image automatically implies production files or agreement on all uses.
Submitting a concise file that is truly usable
Your first submission can include the project summary, some commented references, intended media, exact inscriptions, and desired timeline. Add what already exists: brand name, logo, initial drawings or photos of the sales point. Also specify which elements are still undecided.
Based in Guadeloupe and Les Saintes, Atelier Karaïbes can discuss a local Antilles brand or a project elsewhere, including mainland France. The brief defines a creation adapted to your region and helps discuss illustrations, textile range, labels and printed bags in a coherent proposal.