Generate structured creative briefs for the Tiger Data design team. Briefs include messaging direction, visual guidance, brand guardrails with actual specs (hex codes, fonts, logo rules), and platform-specific deliverable dimensions.
When to Use
This skill activates when the user asks to:
- Create a creative brief or design brief
- Specify what assets are needed for a campaign
- Request visual direction for a project
- Generate deliverable specs for the design team
Workflow
Step 0: Pre-flight check
Read REFERENCES.md from the plugin root and run the pre-flight check described there. Call list_marketing_references() to verify Tiger Den is reachable. If it fails or the tool is not found, STOP — do not continue. Follow the error handling in REFERENCES.md.
Also fetch the No Fly List before doing any work:
get_marketing_reference(slug: "no-fly-list")
This is a list of customers who cannot be publicly referenced. Load these names as a hard constraint: never include any No Fly List customer in any output — not as named examples, proof points, customer quotes, case study references, or any other mention. If the user requests content featuring or referencing a No Fly List customer, stop and inform them that this customer cannot be publicly referenced. If a No Fly List name appears in source material you are working from, omit it from all outputs.
Step 1: Gather Context
Fetch these Tiger Den references:
brand-voice-guide— for messaging tone and WABL principlebrand-guidelines— for visual specs (colors, typography, logo, diagram style)product-marketing-context— for positioning and persona context
Step 2: Collect Inputs from the User
Required:
- Campaign/project name — what is this for?
- Objective — what should the creative accomplish?
Optional (prompt if not provided):
- Target audience — which persona or segment? (defaults to primary ICP from product-marketing-context)
- Deliverables needed — which asset types? (defaults to standard set based on campaign type)
- Key message — primary message or CTA
- Channels — where will these assets appear?
If the user provides minimal input, ask one clarifying question at most, then proceed with reasonable defaults rather than blocking.
Step 2.5: Check for existing brief in Tiger Den
Follow the Step A protocol in references/briefs-integration.md (from the plugin root):
- Generate
source_run_idandsource_run_at. - Search for an existing brief using the campaign/project name and
brief_type: "creative". - If a match is found, ask the user whether to update it or create a new one.
- Carry the
brief_idforward if updating.
Step 3: Generate the Creative Brief
Output a structured brief with these sections:
1. Overview
- Campaign/project name
- Date
- Objective (1-2 sentences)
- Target audience with persona context from product-marketing-context
- Key message (one message only — per WABL principle)
2. Messaging Direction
- Primary message — what the creative should communicate
- Supporting points (2-3 max)
- Tone guidance — pull relevant tone from brand-voice-guide based on content type
- Words/phrases to use (from product-marketing-context "words to use")
- Words/phrases to avoid (from product-marketing-context "words to avoid" + brand-voice-guide absolute rules)
3. Visual Direction
- Mood/aesthetic — describe the visual feeling, referencing brand-guidelines personality (Bold, Technical, Approachable, Energetic)
- Color recommendations — specific hex codes from brand-guidelines, with usage notes
- Which color for primary elements
- Which for accents
- Which for backgrounds
- Include the actual usage rules (e.g., "Electric Yellow #F5FF80 for CTA backgrounds — never as text on light backgrounds")
- Typography recommendations — Geist Sans weights and sizes for the asset type
- Illustration style guidance if applicable (hand-drawn sticker aesthetic, thick outlines, flat fills)
- Photography direction if applicable (authentic, technical, high contrast)
4. Brand Guardrails
Pull directly from brand-guidelines:
- Logo usage: which variant, minimum size, clear space rules
- Color palette: list all approved colors with hex codes
- Typography: Geist Sans + Geist Mono only, with weight guidance
- Do's and Don'ts: at least 3 of each, specific to this campaign type
- Accessibility: minimum contrast ratios (4.5:1 body, 3:1 large text)
5. Deliverable Specifications
For each asset needed, include:
- Platform/placement
- Asset type (hero image, social post, email header, etc.)
- Dimensions (pixels)
- Aspect ratio
- Copy overlay requirements (max characters, placement)
- CTA text
- File format (PNG, JPG, SVG)
- File naming convention
Use the platform specs from references/platform-specs.md for standard dimensions.
If the user specified channels, only include those. If not, include the standard set:
LinkedIn, X/Twitter, email header, blog hero, OG image.
6. Timeline & Process
- Suggested review checkpoints
- Note that the brief should be attached to an Asana task (reference asana-project-scaffolder if available)
Step 4: Output Format
- Default output: structured markdown with clear section headers
- If the user requests a document: generate as .docx using the docx skill conventions
- Keep the brief to 1-2 pages — apply WABL aggressively. If a section doesn't add value for THIS specific brief, omit it.
Quality Checklist
Before outputting, verify:
- Brand colors reference actual hex codes, not vague descriptions
- Typography references Geist Sans/Mono by name with specific weights
- Deliverable dimensions are correct for each platform (see references/platform-specs.md)
- Messaging follows brand-voice-guide: no em dashes, one clear message, active voice
- Brief is actionable — a designer who has never seen this campaign could execute from it
- WABL applied — every section earns its place
Tiger Den brief persistence
After the quality checklist passes and the brief is output, follow the Step B protocol in references/briefs-integration.md (from the plugin root) to save the brief.
Field mapping
Map the creative brief output sections to structured_fields as follows:
| Output section | structured_fields key |
|---|---|
| Campaign/project name | overview.campaign_name |
| Objective | overview.objective |
| Target audience | overview.target_audience |
| Key message | overview.key_message |
| Primary message | messaging.primary_message |
| Supporting points | messaging.supporting_points |
| Tone guidance | messaging.tone |
| Words/phrases to use | messaging.words_to_use |
| Words/phrases to avoid | messaging.words_to_avoid |
| Mood/aesthetic | visual_direction.mood |
| Color recommendations | visual_direction.colors |
| Typography recommendations | visual_direction.typography |
| Illustration style | visual_direction.illustration_style |
| Photography direction | visual_direction.photography_direction |
| Logo usage | brand_guardrails.logo_usage |
| Color palette | brand_guardrails.color_palette |
| Typography | brand_guardrails.typography |
| Do's | brand_guardrails.dos |
| Don'ts | brand_guardrails.donts |
| Accessibility notes | brand_guardrails.accessibility_notes |
| Per-deliverable specs | deliverables[] (one object per asset) |
| Review checkpoints | timeline.review_checkpoints |
| Timeline notes | timeline.notes |