Need to update your portfolio? Or looking for your next challenge? Push yourself out of your comfort zone with our monthly creative prompts: Boom Briefs.
You’ve been putting it off for ages, but finally, you’ve got round to updating your portfolio. But there’s a problem. As you scroll through your recent work, you’ve got this nagging feeling that you’ve been playing it safe.
Here’s the thing about creative work: it’s a bit like physical fitness. You can coast along doing what you’re already good at. And honestly, that’s fine.
But if you want to grow stronger, more flexible, and find out what you’re truly capable of, you need to switch things up… whether that be challenging new exercises at the gym, or pursuing new creative approaches in the studio.
And that’s where fictional briefs come in.
Why work on fictional briefs?
You might think working on fictional briefs is just something students do. But you’d be wrong. Some of the most innovative design work comes from designers who regularly challenge themselves with self-initiated projects.
For instance, famed typographer Jessica Hische credits her 2009 project, Daily Drop Cap—in which she challenged herself to hand‑illustrate one decorative letter each day—as the catalyst that changed the course of her career.
The beauty of a fictional brief is the creative freedom it provides you. No client politics. No budget constraints. No, “Can we make the logo bigger?” Just pure, untrammelled creativity.
That’s why Creative Boom has launched Boom Briefs: a brand new monthly creative challenge as part of our own private network, The Studio. Think of it as your creative gym membership… but with no creepy guys, annoying music, queues for the machines, or monthly fees.
What is Boom Briefs?
Here’s how it works. Each month, we drop a fresh creative prompt designed to get your brain buzzing. These aren’t your typical “design a logo for a coffee shop” briefs; they’re challenges that push you to think differently, experiment, and most importantly, create something entirely new, purely for the joy of it.
No client breathing down your neck. No budget constraints or brand guidelines to wrestle with. Just you, a prompt, and the freedom to go wherever your mind takes you.
So, how does it actually work? Well, each month, we’ll post a new brief on Instagram. Once you’ve created something, you simply share your work on your own feed, tag us @creativeboom, and use our monthly hashtag. That’s it. Simple.
It’s fun to do. It’s fun to share what you’ve created. And it’s fun to look at what other people have created, too, and comment on that.
Our first challenge: Retreat
For our inaugural brief, we asked designers to imagine their dream creative retreat and design the identity for it. The prompt was intentionally open: Cosy and quiet? Bold and bizarre? Up a mountain or in a forest? You decide.
Designers could create whatever felt right: a logo, a poster, an entire visual system, even physical items like totes or welcome packs. The only rule was that there were no rules.
The response blew us away. The #cbbriefretreat hashtag quickly filled with such diverse, thoughtful work that it reminded us why we love this community so much.
Paige Langon‘s concept went right up our flagpole: a hotel chain that fosters a completely tech-free travel experience. Her highly original designs, with a clever typographical logo, are sophisticated but approachable; no small feat.
Liam Jackson fashioned an enticing identity for a retreat aimed at refuelling designers’ creativity. There’s a quietness to his designs that genuinely made us want to pack a bag and disappear somewhere peaceful.
James Boast went in a completely different direction with bold, expressive typography and an offbeat colour scheme that screams creative energy. His retreat certainly looks like the kind of place where breakthrough ideas happen without you even expecting them.
Kelseys Desk‘s put a smile on our face with her Brainzap Spa & Suites: “a retreat that might be a cult?” The interplay between clever copy, inspired type and quirky imagery is like nothing we’ve ever seen before, in a (very) good way.
WolfFlowWolf produced a design concept for a creative retreat in the Austrian Alps. His designs sit nicely between organic and structured, exactly the kind of visual tension that makes you stop scrolling and look… really look.
In short, each entry told a completely different story, which is exactly what we hoped for. Some designers imagined digital detox escapes, others envisioned collaborative creative hubs. Some went rustic, others went urban. The diversity was incredible.
Ready to jump in?
Our next brief is already out there. Imagine a brand-new graphic design school based in Manchester. It’s called Northmark: School of Design, and it needs an identity.
Is it bold and experimental? Quiet and refined? Brutalist? Bauhaus? Entirely up to you.
You can take it in any direction you like. Just think: what would the dream design school look like if you were the one building it? Who’s it for? What’s its vibe? And how do you communicate that through branding?
You might create:
— A logo or wordmark
— A poster or social tile
— Colour, type, or layout system
— Course prospectus cover or merch (stickers, totes, tees, etc.)
How to take part
- Follow @creativeboom
- Share your design on Instagram
- Tag @creativeboom and use the hashtag #cbbriefnorthmark
- Comment on the brief on Instagram to let us know you’ve entered
Deadline: Friday 5 September, 12pm BST
We’ll spotlight a few favourites on our feed, in Stories, and feature some on our magazine.
What’s next?
Follow @creativeboom on Instagram, keep an eye out for future announcements, and when you see a new Boom Brief, dive in. No pressure, no expectations. Just creativity, community, and the satisfaction of making something that didn’t exist before.
Because at the end of the day, isn’t that why we all fell in love with design in the first place?
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