Start a job from the client's brief
Paste the brief as the client sent it. Studio reads the headline, date, venue, price, call to action, contact and must-haves, suggests the formats it mentions, and carries all of it into the key visual and every format built from it.
Beginner6 min readUpdated 25 September 2026Studio · Brief
On this page
The brief is the first thing a job needs. Paste it once and Studio turns it into a checklist the Editor keeps for you, a list of formats you owe, and a starting point for the key visual. This saves you re-reading an email to check the date is on the poster, and it stops the last-minute "you forgot the sponsor logos".
Paste the brief
- In Studio, press Start a job. The job opens on the Brief tab with the cursor in The brief.
- Paste the client's words as they sent them: an email, a WhatsApp message, a list. Do not tidy it first; the reader expects real messages.
- Check what Studio read, under Read from the brief. Goes to the Editor as a checklist.
- Fill in Client at the top of the job. The job name fills itself from the headline until you type your own.
What the reader picks out
Everything happens on your device, instantly, and the same text always gives the same result. The reader looks for these items:
| Item | How it is found |
|---|---|
| Headline | A line labelled Headline, Title, Name or Event; else a quoted phrase; else the job name, once you have typed your own; else the subject of a line like "a flyer for our harvest thanksgiving"; else the first short sentence that is not an instruction |
| Subheading | A line labelled Subhead, Tagline, Strapline or Theme, or a short sentence that is not the headline and not an instruction |
| Date | A labelled line, or a date written like 12 Oct, Sat 12 October 2026, October 12th or 12/10/26 |
| Time | A labelled line, or a time like 8pm, 7:30 or 6pm to 11pm |
| Venue | A labelled line (Venue, Where, Location, Address, At), or a place after the word at, such as at The Hub |
| Price | A labelled line, or an amount in ₦, N, NGN, £, $, €, GHS or KES, or the word free |
| Call to action | A labelled line, or a common action such as get tickets, book now, register, RSVP, shop now, call, DM or WhatsApp |
| Contact | A labelled line, or up to two of: a web address, a social handle, a phone number, an email |
| Must include | Lines such as "Must include: sponsor logos, hashtag and dress code", split into separate items, plus lines that mention logos, sponsors, partners, hashtags, disclaimers, terms, speakers or a lineup. Up to five. |
Above the checklist Studio also shows who the job is for (only when the brief names people, like "for young professionals") and the tone words it found, such as bold, warm, premium or playful.
Things said to you rather than things to print are left out on purpose: deadlines, budgets, "please send drafts", "see attached", thanks and sign-offs. A line that lists the formats wanted ("Need an IG post, a story and an A3 poster") is treated as the deliverables, not as copy.
List the formats you owe
Below the brief, the Formats panel is the job's list of deliverables. Every later step works from it: the key visual builds these sizes, and the delivery package renders them.
- The brief mentions: shows a button for each format the brief names. Instagram gives Instagram post, story or reel gives Story / Reel / Status, poster gives A3 poster, flyer gives A4 flyer, roll-up gives Roll-up banner 85 × 200 cm, billboard gives Billboard 48-sheet, and so on. Add all adds every suggestion.
- When the brief names none, Usual ones: offers Instagram post, Story / Reel / Status and A4 flyer.
- All sizes and custom shows every size, grouped as Social, Screen, Print and Outdoor, plus Custom size with a name, width and height in pixels (at least 16 px each way).
Each format in the list has a tick to mark it done, an editable name, its size (print sizes show in mm), a due date and a bin to remove it. Print sizes carry their size in mm so delivery can add bleed and crop marks later. The earliest due date shows on the Studio home screen.
Pick the client brand
If you have saved brands, Which brand is this for? appears under the brief. Choose one and the Editor checks the key visual against it: colours, fonts, logo size and clear space. Manage brands… opens your brands. See Save client brands and reuse them.
Start the key visual
The Key visual tab is where the design itself begins. You design one hero in the Editor, then Studio builds every other format from it.
- Open the Key visual tab.
- Under Master format, pick which of your formats the hero is. Studio picks the first social format for you. With no formats listed, it uses Instagram post at 1080 × 1350.
- Press Start key visual in the Editor.
The Editor opens a new design at that size, seeded from the job:
- Colours: the chosen direction's palette goes into your swatches. With no direction chosen, the brand's colours are used instead; with neither, you start plain.
- Type: the direction's headline and text fonts, or the brand's.
- Brief: the checklist appears in the Editor's Brief panel. It ticks each item off as soon as matching text is on the design, and Add places a missing item as a new text layer. It also shows the contrast of the selected text against its background. When the job has a palette, the panel offers Background, Text, Accent and Muted colours, picked so text reads on the background.
Build every format from the key visual
Once the key visual exists, the Key visual tab shows the master and a card for every format. Studio does not shrink the master to fit each size. It places each element by what it is (headline, logo, image, button) so a wide banner and a tall story each get a sensible layout. The formats stay linked to the master.
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Open in the Editor | Opens the design with all its boards |
| Build N missing formats | Lays out every format that does not have a board yet, as new boards beside the master |
| Build (on one card) | Builds just that format |
| Update formats from the master | Pushes text, colour and picture changes from the master into every linked format. Layouts you adjusted by hand are kept |
| Re-lay (on one card) | Throws away that format's own changes and lays it out from the master again |
| Refresh | Redraws the thumbnails from the latest save |
If Studio puts something in the wrong place, give the layer a role on the master in the Editor: Properties, Role in formats. The roles are Background, Image, Headline, Subheading, Body text, Details, Call to action, Logo and Decoration, or Automatic. Roles decide where each element goes in the other sizes. For resizing outside Studio, see Resize one design to every format.
Tick each format card when you are happy with it. When every format is ticked, the Key visual tab gets its tick.
Common problems
- The headline is a sentence from the email. Add a line starting Headline: to the brief.
- A must-have is missing. Put it on its own line starting Must include:, with items separated by commas or "and".
- The key visual is not saved on this device yet. Studio could not find the Editor design. Press Open it to open and save it, or Start again if it was deleted.
- A format card says Not built yet. Press Build on the card, or Build N missing formats.