Briefing a white-label design partner: the template
Give a white-label design partner the same brief you would give an in-house designer, then add the terms that keep the work yours: no contact with your client, your file naming, your review before anything leaves the building, and written rules on fonts, source files and client data. Run a small paid test job before you put a live launch through a new partner.
What to outsource and what to keep
The work that outsources well is production with a fixed reference: resizing a key visual into a set of ad formats, building carousel sets from approved copy, laying out email modules, adapting a deck to a template. A partner can do these from a clear brief and you can check them against it.
Keep three things in-house. The client relationship comes first: you take the calls and give the feedback. The second is the idea, meaning the campaign concept and the decision about which route goes forward. The last is final quality control, because your name is on the delivery. A partner who is handed the idea as well usually needs the client contact too, and at that point it is no longer white-label.
For automation work, the equivalent is a one-page scope before you quote.
What the brief must contain
The job and the deliverables table
Open with one paragraph: what the campaign is for, who it addresses and what the partner is making. You can describe the client by sector if you cannot name them yet.
Then list the deliverables as a table, one row per asset: name, format, pixel size or page size, quantity, where the copy comes from, and the due date. A row such as "LinkedIn single image, 1200 × 1200 PNG, 6 variants, copy in tab 2 of the sheet, due Wed 12:00" leaves little to interpret. "Social assets for launch" leaves everything.
Brand inputs
Send the brand guidelines, the master files for the logo and key visual, two or three examples of approved past work for this client, and a do-not list. The do-not list covers colours that are off-limits, crops the client has rejected and words their legal team has removed.
Files, naming and handover
State the source format (Figma, Illustrator, InDesign), the export settings, including colour profile, and the folder structure you expect. Give them your naming convention with an example filename. If you use Figma, say whether they work in your file as a guest or in their own file that they transfer to you, and when.
Agree that editable sources are part of the delivery, not an extra.
Review gates
Write down how many rounds are included, that feedback comes only from you and in one consolidated list per round, and how quickly each side responds. Name the person on your side who approves.
The white-label terms
Invisibility to your client
The partner should not contact your client, appear in shared folders the client can see, or put their name in the files. Check the metadata as well as the artwork: PDF and design files can carry an author field and the name of the person who created them. Ask the partner to clear it, and check before forwarding.
Agree in writing that the partner may not show the work in their portfolio without your written permission, and that permission depends on what your own client has agreed. If you want a non-solicitation clause, take advice on the wording for your jurisdiction.
Fonts and image licences
Font and image licences are granted to a person or an organisation, so check them before you share any files.
If the brand uses Adobe Fonts, Adobe's licensing FAQ says the fonts can be used for client work, and that a client receiving PDFs or images with embedded or rasterised fonts does not need its own licence. A collaborator who needs to work with the fonts needs their own licence, and the font files cannot be packaged and sent with the design file. In practice your partner needs their own Creative Cloud access to those fonts, and so does any client who will edit the source later.
For fonts bought from a foundry, read the licence for how many users or computers it covers before you share the files. For stock images, buy them in your agency's or the client's account rather than the partner's, so the licence stays with the work.
Client personal data
Most production work needs no personal data. Use dummy names and placeholder photos where you can. If a job does involve real personal data, such as a customer list for personalised assets or testimonials with names and photos, data protection law applies.
Under UK GDPR, if your agency processes that data for the client as a processor, the ICO's guidance says you must not engage another processor without the client's prior specific or general written authorisation. You must also pass the same data protection obligations to that sub-processor by contract, and you stay liable to the client for its compliance. Check your client contract before any personal data reaches the partner.
Start with a paid test job
Before routing a live launch through a new partner, pay for a small, real job with a low-stakes deadline: one asset set, briefed exactly as you would brief the big one. Judge it on more than the visuals:
- Did the files follow your naming and folder structure?
- Did they respect the do-not list?
- Did they ask questions where the brief was unclear, or guess?
- Were the sources clean enough for someone else to pick up?
The answers are a fair guide to how the partner will work under a real launch deadline.
The brief template
Copy this into a doc and fill it in for each job.
WHITE-LABEL PRODUCTION BRIEF
Job reference: [agency job code] Brief date: [date]
Agency contact: [name, channel] Approver: [name]
Client: [name, or sector only]
PURPOSE
[one paragraph: what the campaign is for, who it addresses]
DELIVERABLES
| Asset | Format | Size | Qty | Copy source | Due |
| | | | | | |
BRAND INPUTS
Guidelines: [link]
Master files: [link: logo, key visual]
Approved examples: [links]
Do-not list: [colours, crops, words, layouts]
FILES
Source format: [Figma / Illustrator / InDesign]
Export: [format, colour profile, resolution]
Naming: [convention + one example filename]
Delivery folder: [link] Editable sources included: yes
REVIEW
Rounds included: [number] Feedback: consolidated, from agency only
Turnaround: [agency: x hours / partner: y hours]
TERMS
No contact with the client. No partner name in files or metadata.
No portfolio use without written permission.
Fonts: [which fonts; who licenses them for this job]
Images: [stock account to use]
Personal data: [none | describe + contract reference]If you would rather hand campaign production to a studio that works this way already, our content and social work can run from your guidelines and file conventions.
FAQ
What should an agency keep in-house when outsourcing design?
The client relationship, the campaign idea and the decision on which route goes forward, and final quality control. Outsource production that has a fixed reference, such as resizes, carousel sets and email modules.
Can our white-label partner use our Adobe Fonts?
Not through your account. Adobe's licensing FAQ says a collaborator who needs access to the fonts must have their own licence, and the fonts cannot be packaged and sent with the file.
Do we need a contract if the partner sees client personal data?
Under UK GDPR, if you process the data for your client, the ICO says you need the client's written authorisation before using another processor, and the same data protection obligations must pass to that partner by contract. Where possible, use dummy data instead.
How do we keep the partner invisible to the client?
No direct contact, no partner access to client-visible folders, your naming convention, and a check of file metadata such as the author field before anything is forwarded.
Sources
- ICO, "What needs to be included in the contract?" (UK GDPR guidance, contracts between controllers and processors): https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/accountability-and-governance/contracts-and-liabilities-between-controllers-and-processors-multi/what-needs-to-be-included-in-the-contract/ (sub-processors need the controller's "prior specific or general written authorisation"; equivalent obligations must be imposed by contract; the processor remains liable for the sub-processor).
- Adobe Help, "Font licensing FAQs": https://helpx.adobe.com/fonts/web/font-licensing/font-licensing.html (use for client projects; no separate client licence for files with embedded or rasterised fonts; collaborators and editing clients need their own licence; fonts cannot be transferred or packaged with the file).