Design briefs in industrial design tend to be kept secret and have been poorly documented. This paper discusses an approach to demystifying design briefs using real world examples to better understand how they are used in practice. Additionally, there are examples of how a design brief has affected a design project positively and negatively. The author has traveled around the globe, including stops in Rhode Island, California, Argentina, Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia to interview industrial designers about their design processes. Interviews include designers from major
corporations to batch manufacturers and large consultancies to one-person design studios. The interview transcripts were reviewed and analyzed and it was found that design briefs could be too
broad as well as too narrow. Furthermore, design briefs are seldom fixed, static documents, but rather, they are often dynamic and evolve as the project progresses. Design briefs are part of the
communication between the client and the designer. A well-formed design brief improves the chances of success because the goals and limitations of the project are made clear. However, the inherently ambiguous nature of design requires a fluid approach to design briefs. This paper will share diverse and vivid examples of design briefs through interviews conducted around the world.