The Brief Was Wrong, Thankfully

When misdirection sparked the best direction.

It started with certainty

The client brief was airtight. Industry buzzwords, three mood boards, a crystal-clear “inspiration deck,” and a bulletproof vision: clean, modern, trustworthy. We nodded. We scoped. We started.

But halfway through wireframing, something began to itch. It was too safe. Too templated. This wasn't a design — it was a prescription.

The illusion of clarity

We had been asked to design a box.
We did.
It looked exactly like the other boxes in the market. Same structure. Same language. Same hierarchy. And when we presented the initial direction, even the client squinted and asked, “Why doesn’t it feel... exciting?”

They had followed convention. We had obeyed it. No one had questioned it.

The accidental rebellion

That weekend, someone on our team went rogue. They redesigned a section based on instinct, not instruction — with louder typography, unexpected color breaks, and voice that wasn’t afraid of wit. It wasn’t “trustworthy.” It was real. It was bold.

We almost didn’t show it. But we did.

The client paused. Then smiled.

The real brief emerges

Turns out, they didn’t want safe.
They wanted memorable.

But they thought they had to ask for safe, because that’s what everyone else does. They just needed permission — and proof — that a risk could work. The brief had been a shield, not a guide.

Once it cracked, the real work began.

Sometimes, the brief is just a map to the middle.
The magic starts when you get lost.