1. Working to a Brief
LO1
Katie Torpey and Stephanie Westerman

2. Contractual Brief
Definition:
A media company signs an agreement to complete a certain project within a specific time period for a certain
fee, if the media company or the client do not stick to what they agreed on they would be found breaching the
contract and could face legal action.
This kind of brief is normally discussed between two people, the client and the company.
It is very important that you read any contacts very carefully before signing to ensure you do not agree to anything
you don’t want to, though normally this kind of brief is easy to read.
After reading the brief the client will need to supply personal information and the things that they will
need in order to complete the task.
Advantages:
- Easy for the client to complete the tasks given.
- The client will have more control over the project.
- When the brief is set and the deadline is given you can start to plan a schedule.
Disadvantages:
- There may be disagreements between the client and the person making the brief.

3. Formal Brief
Definition:
A client provides a media company with a brief that states the product they want to be made.
The brief only contains the information needed to complete the project, any other information needed will have to be
talked about when discussing the brief.
The brief will have information such as:
- How the product will look.
- How the product will be made.
- Materials.
- Locations.
- Target demographics.
This kind of brief is similar to the Contractual brief, the people involved will formally agree on the project, though a
formal brief is not always legally binding.
The layout of this brief is also one of the more relaxed and easiest to read.
Advantages:
- The client will be able to read the brief easy.
- The project will get done quicker because the brief wont contain useless information.
- Not legally binding, meaning no legal action will be taken if the brief isn’t stuck too.
Disadvantages:
- When discussing the brief there might be other things you need to know that you might forget to ask.
- Because there's no contract, the project might not be concentrated on as much as it could be because they might be worrying about
pay or something else that the client and the employer agreed on.

4. Informal Brief
Definition:
This is likely to be a verbal agreement, normally in person, but can be done over the phone, though doing this in person
is the better option. No contract or written documentation is involved in this kind of brief, this can be a big risk to take.
The client and company discuss and agree on what will be going on in the project. As it is informal there may not be a
set completion date.
Advantages:
- The work won’t be rushed.
- If there's no deadline there will always be work.
- No legal action can be taken if the work isn’t completed on time or to a high standard.
Disadvantages:
- If something was said when discussing the brief that was agreed on they may not stick to it. (pay)
- With there being no deadline the work may not get done if they get too relaxed.
- If the work doesn’t get done no legal action can be taken because there wouldn’t be a set deadline.

5. Co-Operative Brief
Definition:
Where two or more production companies are hired to work on a specific brief.
The companies then have to work together in order to complete the project and if a disagreement occurs a negotiated
brief would have to be made to please both sides, this will mean that the work will be able to continue.
Advantages:
- Both sides of the party will be pleased.
- There will be more than one company doing the work so each company will have different skills meaning this
could help get the work done quicker.
Disadvantages:
- If both sides of the party get both there ideas it could end up making the part they both want different things for
look worse.
- Records will need to be kept throughout the project if there's disagreements.
- Companies/people may back out of the job if they don’t get exactly what they want.

6. Negotiated Brief
Definition:
This brief is used for when a co-operative brief goes wrong, it is used for when a company disagrees on something or
more than one thing, this would then lead to negotiating the brief, by negotiating it things would be changed in order
to please all companies, including the client. For the work to go on both parties will need to agree on something.
This could involve changing visual style, changing the content or making sure the product stays in the boundaries of a
legal or ethical obligation.
Advantages:
- Both parties will be pleased.
- The work will still be able to go on if there's a disagreement.
- If both ideas are put together it might make the work look better.
- Allows lots of companies to work on the same project.
Disadvantages:
- If both ideas are put together it might make the product look less professional and more cluttered.
- Everyone involved in doing the work that have disagreements may be unhappy if they don’t get exactly what they
want and have to put in other peoples ideas as well.
- Both companies will have to agree for the work to be completed but once they have agreed they may hold a
grudge against the others which could lead to a big arguments and the work not getting finished.

7. Commission Brief
Definition:
This is when a large media company hires an independent media company to create a product for them.
Once the product is made it may then be used by the larger media company for an external client, the independent
production company will be paid for making the product and part of the product’s profit may be given to the
company each time it is sold, broadcasted, or published.
This brief is negotiated between two media companies rather than an external client, so this means that the brief will
be made quicker.
For example, the BBC may hire a specific independent group to go and film a documentary on prisons.
Advantages:
- You could potentially made more money after the product has been made if another company sells, broadcasts or publishes
your product.
- The brief will be made quickly.
- Gives similar companies the chance to work for a large media company.
- Allows smaller companies to make money.
Disadvantages:
- The person that has asked you to do the project will get the praise for how the project is rather than the person that’s
actually made it.

8. Tender Brief
Definition:
This is when a client publishes what they need for a media product to be made, a production company will then make a
brief, proposal and budget, after this is done it will then be pitched to the client.
The client then decides upon the best proposal submitted and offers the project to that production company.
Millions of different production companies may enter a brief to the client to try and secure the project.
This kind of brief would also be done if you were new to a company.
Advantages;
- Relaxed easy work.
- Work will be fair.
- Everyone will be treated the same.
- Gives lots of companies the opportunity to be able to do new work.
Disadvantages:
- May not be chose as the final client.
- Jobs will be lost.
- May be rivalry between all the different companies.

9. Competition Brief
Definition:
A brief is made available to all production companies entering the competition, each company will then complete the
brief, all completed projects are then judged and the best is awarded the project or the project will be published.
Often used as a free to enter competition.
Advantages:
- Relaxed easy work.
- Work will be fair.
- Everyone will be treated the same.
- Guaranteed job if you win the competition.
Disadvantages:
- May not be chosen as the final client.
- No guaranteed job if you don’t win.
- Could have to pay the winning contestants (not always the case).

10. My Brief
Which structure/structures will the Vegetarian Recipe Cards brief use?
We will use the negotiated brief because this means that if we have any
disagreements or problems then they would have to be negotiated in the brief.
Instead of going along with one idea using a negotiating brief will mean that both
different sides are compromised and sort out. When talking about the brief it
could be changed to please the client or the employer. Negotiating a brief could
mean that different aspects of the project change for example the visual style
could change even the content. Both views will have too put ideas forward to
come to an agreement.

11. Reading the Brief
Why is important to thoroughly read your brief?
To make sure that the brief is read, understood and discussed by the employee from
the client is important because this will mean that the employer knows what is
expected and this will also mean that the employee knows how to approach the
project. The brief will contain information on how the project should be
undertaken so reading through it will give a greater understanding of how to carry
out the project. The more that the brief is understood the better the outcome of
the brief will be.

12. Reading the Brief
What is the nature and demand of the Vegetarian Recipe Cards brief?
Nature- The nature of the project briefs includes that 8 different recipe cards need to
be created, interesting and creative designs will be needed for the recipe cards
and designs must be on both the front and the back of the card. It is important
that the recipe cards are aimed at vegetarians. Images will need to be included
the cards and a theme must be carried out throughout each card to make them
look more professional.
Demand – The amount of time that is needed to carry out to finish the project will be
10 weeks long in this time it is important that everything is up to date. To finish
this project it will needed to be included in pairs.

13. Negotiating a Brief
Why is it important to discuss the brief with your client prior to production?
It is important to discuss the brief before the production stage of the project this is so that
ideas can be discussed, sharing ideas is a good way to develop them as the client may
have some ideas that can be improved. If there is any worries or concerns about the
project then they can be discussed with the client when talking about the brief. If any
other suggestions or ideas want to be added to the client then this is the opportunity
that the employee has to discuss options. It is important that the employee gets their
idea across before the brief is given and before is too late. If the brief is not discussed
and different ideas are not shared then this can create problems. As the employee will
be disappointed when they get the finished brief. Ideas that the employee has could be
different when given the brief. If the product doesn’t match the brief then the
employee will suffer with the consequences and will more than likely not get paid.

14. Negotiating a Brief
What are the advantages and disadvantages of employing discretion with a brief? Tweeking
things the way you want it to go
Advantages – It gives opportunity to try need things and experiments
- Gives a chance to include new ideas and opinions
- The work could be improved and developed when looking at by someone else
Disadvantages- Could cause conflict or disagreement with the client.
- Disagreement could effect pay and also future business.
- Client could not like the changes carried out.

15. Negotiating a Brief
Are there any potential legal/ethical/regulatory issues with the brief’s proposed product?
Legal/Ethical Issues-
• Have to get legal contract to cover payments.
• Copyright issues
• Make sure everything is vegetarian
• Health and Safety Checks for food
• Model Release forms
Regulatory Issues-
• We will have to consider the regulatory bodies including ASA which stands for The
Advertising standards authority.
• Contacting Unions.
• Government Regulations

16. Negotiating a Brief
Amendments you have considered to;
The Product
The final product could need changing as it could be aspiring or ambitious. If a regulation or law is
broken due to the project then it could affect the final piece as it will need to be changed because it is
breaking the rules for example if some of the work is copied from someone else this goes against
copyright regulations.
The Budget
The budget will have to be considered before carrying out the project this is because people may
struggle with money issues. If this is a problem then it will have to be improved and the project will
need to be cut back or downscaled.
The Conditions
The amount of money that is put into the project may need to be changed depending on how much
they are being paid. To make sure that the correct amount of money is being used for the project it is
important that it is discussed before the contact has been signed this is to make sure that no problems
occur.

17. Opportunities
What opportunities could this brief allow you to explore?
Self Development
Exploring my self development in this project will include learning more creative skills when creating my
product. Also communication skills as I will have to work in a pair so it is important to work together as a
team. Working for a client will give me some experience to know what its like in a professional
environment.
Learning new skills
This will include learning new skills in team building and working together. As working individual is different, I
will learn new skills in graphic design and copy writing as I will need this skills to complete my brief.
Multi-skilling
Multi-skilling when carrying out my project will include trying new skills at same time this will need
concentration. It will also help me be able to do lots of things at once which I will be able to use when
carrying out other projects.
Contributing to a brief
This will include adding my own individual ideas to a brief whilst developing the idea and the production of the
project. Sharing new ideas will mean that I can experiment and test with different things and even coming
up with a new idea.