Creating a distinct visual identity is one of the most important parts of game development. Great art is what stops players mid-scroll, keeps them immersed in your world, and helps your game stand out in a very crowded market.
But to get there, especially when outsourcing, you need one thing: a rock-solid art brief.
A clear, detailed art brief helps align your team and the artists you’re working with, reducing miscommunication, saving time, and boosting your creative output. Whether you’re briefing a freelancer or an outsourcing studio, this guide will help you write a brief that actually gets the results you’re after.
Need help estimating your art production budget? Check out our free Budget Builder tool to plan smarter from the start.
In our Definitive Outsourcing Guide 2023, we briefly touched on the importance of a clear art brief. This post is the deep dive – crafted for game dev teams who want to master the art of commissioning freelancers or outsourcing studios.
Why a Great Art Brief Matters
Your art brief is more than just a document. It’s your creative contract. It defines your scope, style, deadlines, and deliverables, giving everyone the clarity they need to hit the ground running. A good brief ensures:
- Faster approvals
- Fewer revisions
- Consistent, high-quality work
And the best part? A well-written brief builds mutual trust and helps artists focus on creating.
Game Background and Audience
Start by giving your artist or studio a clear sense of the game they’re working on:
- Narrative & themes: What’s the story, setting, and tone?
- Core objectives: What kind of experience are you building?
- Target audience: Age, gender, interests, platform preferences. Think like a marketing persona.
- Mechanics & camera: Is it top-down or third-person? 2D or 3D? Fixed camera or player-controlled? Rigging artists and animators, in particular, require this information to create artwork that seamlessly integrates with the game’s functionalities and enhances the overall gameplay experience.
Include any info that helps your artist understand what kind of emotional or gameplay experience you’re trying to create, it all shapes the final visuals.
Define Your Game Art Style
Here’s where vision becomes visual. Be specific, be bold:
- Annotated mood boards: Add callouts explaining what you like about each reference.
- Do’s and Don’ts: Outline specific styles, techniques, or features you want — and what to avoid. Don’t be afraid to show “what not to do.”
- Visual scale: Use a 1–10 scale to show your desired realism or stylisation (1 = cartoony, 10 = photoreal).
- Fidelity level: Should assets be highly detailed or intentionally simplified?
- Environmental clues: Let them know the world you’re building — foggy forest? Neon city? Warm coastal town?
✏️ Even napkin sketches, stick figures, or Pinterest dumps help. Your visuals don’t need to be polished, they just need to point the artist in the right direction.
If you need help with what to include in an art style guide, check out this thorough art style guide we recently made for a client.
References That Work
When providing reference images, think quality over quantity. Use annotations or callouts, like the ones shown below, to highlight specific aspects of the reference that are relevant to your game’s art style.
- Add annotations to highlight key elements: lighting, colour palettes, form, detail, motion, etc.
- Mention why you’re including each example – e.g., “This UI style is clean and mobile-friendly.”
- Use tools like Chroma to extract colour schemes directly from film stills or other games.
- Don’t be afraid to show non-game references – photography, fashion, or graphic design can be just as inspiring.
Mood Boards
Mood boards are an excellent tool for game developers to effectively communicate the desired aesthetic and tone of their game.
These boards consist of various visual elements such as images, textures, and colour palettes that evoke the intended atmosphere. By providing comprehensive mood boards, you can guide the art team in creating artwork that aligns closely with your vision, ensuring a consistent and cohesive overall style for the game. You can refer to the provided mood board example as a guide for the level of detail and content you should aim to include.
A good mood board can shortcut weeks of creative guesswork. Here are our top five tips:
- Start with a clear vision: Before you begin creating your mood board, it is essential to have a well-defined idea of the style and aesthetic you want to achieve in your game. This clarity will help you select images that are in line with your overall vision.
- Select a variety of images: Your mood board should include a diverse range of images. Consider incorporating artwork from other games, films, and books, as well as photographs, textures, and patterns. Aim to choose images that capture the desired mood and tone of the game, along with specific elements you wish to include or exclude.
- Consider the context:When selecting images for your mood board, take into account the game’s narrative, gameplay mechanics, and overall aesthetic. Ensure that the chosen images are relevant to the specific elements you want to showcase and align with the overall context of your game.
- Be specific: It is important to be as specific as possible when choosing images for your mood board. Rather than simply selecting images that are visually appealing or interesting, focus on images that effectively convey a particular mood or style you wish to achieve in your game.
- Provide explanations: To effectively convey your vision for the game, provide explanations for each image included in your mood board. These explanations can include notes on why you selected the image, how it relates to the overall game vision, and any specific elements you would like to incorporate from that image.
Mood boards aren’t just visual – they’re strategic.
Set Clear Goals & Objectives
A good brief includes not just what you need, but why and by when. For instance, consider the following example of a goal and corresponding objective:
Example goal:
“I need to have 3 characters designed within 3 weeks so I can hand them over to our 3D character artist.”
Objective
“Create a character design sheet for each of the 3 characters. The art style should be realistic, and each design sheet should include front, back, and side views of the character. Additionally, close-up shots of the face and any key focus points or accessories should be included. The completion of these design sheets must be achieved within 3 weeks from the start date.”
By clearly articulating goals and objectives in this manner, you provide concise instructions to the artist and set expectations regarding the desired outcome. This approach keeps expectations aligned, timelines on track, and creative work purposeful.
Deliverables Checklist
It’s understandable to think that providing a comprehensive amount of information may overwhelm the artist, but rest assured, they will actually appreciate it greatly!
Now, let’s focus on creating a deliverable list for your art brief. Depending on the specific requirements of your project, you can expect a variety of deliverables. Here are some common examples:
Primary Game Assets:
- Character design sheets (front/side/back)
- Environment designs
- Props or item designs
- 3D models & textures
- Animations
Secondary Assets:
- UI/UX elements
- Concept art or storyboarding for cutscenes or trailers
- Key art for marketing
- Steam capsule images or box art
Marketing materials can include promotional images, videos, and other visual assets that are used to generate interest in the game. Concept art provides a visual representation of the initial ideas and concepts for the game, allowing the client to see what the final product may look like. UI design encompasses all of the visual elements that the player interacts with in the game, including menus, icons, and other graphical elements.
To ensure that the final product aligns with your needs and vision for the game, it is crucial to clearly define your expectations and desired deliverables in the art brief. Don’t assume the artist knows what “character concept” means to you. Spell it out.
Technical Specifications
Don’t forget to include technical specifications that will guide the artists in their work; This includes:
- The required file types for the deliverables such as PSD, PNG, or JPEG
- Any specific in-game limitations that need to be considered.
- Optimisation requirements to ensure that the assets are optimised for the target platform and can run smoothly in the game.
- Software limitations should also be included, such as whether the art team should use specific software like Unreal Engine, Unity, or Maya.
- The version of the game engine that is being used, as this will impact the compatibility of the assets and how they will be integrated into the game.
This info helps ensure what’s created can actually be used.
Budget & Timeline
This section is critical for managing expectations and ensuring smooth production.
- Timeline: Include any hard deadlines or milestones. Even if there’s flexibility, share a rough idea so the artist or team can schedule accordingly.
- Budget range: Be open about how much you’ve allocated. If it’s a rough ballpark, that’s okay, it gives the artist a chance to propose scope adjustments or alternatives that work within your range.
- Contingency planning: Include a small buffer in your budget for extra revisions, unexpected changes, or feedback loops. This protects both you and your artist from last-minute stress.
You should also specify how the budget breaks down:
- Are different stages billed separately (e.g. concept vs. final art)?
- Will there be milestone payments?
- How will change requests be handled (and billed)?
Need help working out your numbers? Try our Budget Builder to estimate your costs with confidence.
A transparent budget and timeline builds trust and helps you avoid uncomfortable surprises later.
Striking a balance between the timeline, budget, and quality of the final product is essential for a successful project. A reputable studio or artist will assist you in prioritising the necessary deliverables and making informed decisions that align with your goals and available resources.
Distribution process
Let artists know:
- Where and how to deliver files (Dropbox, OneDrive, etc)
- If and when they can share the work publicly or if it need to keep it under NDA
- Who signs off at each stage and how feedback should be delivered
Conclusion: A Better Brief = Better Art
Crafting a solid brief takes time, but it pays off tenfold in better, faster, more aligned results.
Be clear. Be specific. And remember: artists want to deliver great work but your brief is the blueprint to help them do just that.
If you’re planning your next project or want help from a creative team that gets game dev, MLC Studio has your back. We support indie to AA teams with dependable, flexible art production you can count on, get in touch!
