Not fully finished but information about different types of briefs & why they can be good or bad depending on which brief you have.

1. WORKING TO A
BRIEF
LO1
Name

2. CONTRACTUAL BRIEF
Definition
A Contractual brief is a signed agreement in which the company who signs it will
agree to complete a specified task within a certain time period, for a certain, set
fee. As it is a contractual brief, this is one of the most safest briefs that there is
due to you signing an agreement, which if it is not met by the other half, you can
pursue them to gain what is rightfully yours. If the company or client for example
do not stick to what was agreed, they would be in breach of the contract and you
can face legal action against this.
Advantages
Having a specific brief will allow the company to have set guidelines they can work
to. As they know exactly what the project is and what they are being asked to do,
this means the brief they will receive will be very detailed and go into specifics
that are not to be negotiated by the company. Another massive advantage of this
brief is that if something happens on either end (company or client) in which they
do not stick to what they agreed, the other can take legal action against them.
Disadvantages
If the media company who has the brief and has been asked to complete it in a
specific way is having issues with the brief, and they choose to produce the
product to their own standards, then they are not producing the product to the
briefs requirements. As of this, the client could easily take legal action against
them, which will not only affect your business, but also affect your reputation for

3. FORMAL BRIEF
Definition
A formal brief is a brief in which the client provides only necessary
information, which simply establishes the product that they want to be
made. As the brief only supplies certain necessary pieces of information,
any additional information will be gained through negotiations with the
client, and the brief is similar to a Contractual brief, as the parties formally
agree on the project set, but as it is a Formal brief, it may not always be
legally binding.
Advantages
Having a brief which only specifies certain pieces of information allows the
client to raise any ideas or issues during the negotiation process. This also
allows the media company employed be able to be creative with the work
that they are doing as they do not have any specific things to work towards.
Disadvantages
As the brief is only formal and offers a certain amount of information to the
media company, it may make the media company not be able to complete
the product to the standard that the client wishes, due to lacking
information. As the fact the brief is also not always legally bound, this could
bring up problems within the project with things such as financial issues or
a breach of contract.

4. INFORMAL BRIEF
Definition
An informal brief is more like a verbal agreement rather than anything else.
As there is no contracts or written documentations involved in the process,
it can be risky for the media company or the client depending on the project
chosen. They will discuss & agree upon the project, and as it is informal,
they may not be a set date for completion to work towards.
Advantages
As the client & company are discussing what the project should be, it means
there is more verbal communication which allows the media company to
fully understand what the client is asking of them. This means that the
media company should be able to complete the project to the clients
standards easily.
Disadvantages
As there will be no written documentation or contract to prove the
employment of the media company, it means that during or at the end of
the project, the client could easily fail to pay their employees. This could
also mean that things such as deadlines are not completely clear to one
another, and this could easily cause confusion to miss deadlines for both
parties.

5. CO-OPERATIVE BRIEF
Definition
A Co-Operative brief is where two or more production companies
are both hired to work on a specific brief. The companies will both
then have to work together in order to complete the project to the
client’s standards. If a disagreement were to occur, a negotiated
brief would have to be submitted to appease both parties.
Advantages
Having this type of brief means that there can be more perspectives
to creating the product needed by the client as there are multiple
companies working on it. This means that the brief can be more
understood than if there was just one company working on the
project.
Disadvantages
As there are more than one company working on the project, it can
be more prone to disagreements within the group. Conflict may
happen from the ideas being given by each party to the client,
which may force the client and parties to have a negotiated brief
created to complete the project.

6. NEGOTIATED BRIEF
Definition
A negotiated brief is where 2 or more media companies are both working on
a brief together and having conflict from ideas regarding the project, then
they would have to negotiate to the brief. Through the negotiation, the brief
would be changed in order to appease all parties including the client. This
means there could be a change to visual styles, the content or ensuring the
product stays within the boundaries of a legal or ethical obligation. Both
parties WILL have to compromise to allow the project to continue.
Advantages
As there are multiple parties within the brief, it means certain points can be
negotiated with one another (like visual style or contents etc). This allows
for more open suggestions from multiple perspectives which could actually
help make the product to be more successful overall.
Disadvantages
As the brief is being negotiated, it means it will be using a lot of time which
is crucial for work. If unnecessary issues are brought up during the
negotiation, and the client does not believe that this problem needs to be
tackled, then this can delay the production time for the product, which will
affect either time for both parties on production or even miss the deadline
date.

7. COMMISSION BRIEF
Definition
A commission brief is where a large media company will hire an independent
company to create a product for them. This means that the brief will be
negotiated between the two media companies rather than the external
client. The product that is then made may be used by the large media
company for the external client, and as of this, the independent production
company will need to be paid for making the product and potentially even
for the part of the products profit each time it is either sold, broadcasted or
published.
Advantages
Having this type of brief will mean that the larger media company does not
have to do any of the hard work, so to speak. They may oblige to sub-
contract the work that has been set in the brief out to the other company,
and each company will both receive money for the work the contributed to
the making of the project.
Disadvantages
From this type of brief, it means that as there are 2 different companies
working on the same product, there could be some conflicts between them.
As the brief is not negotiated with the client though, the product made my
not be near or even to the client’s standards.

8. TENDER BRIEF
Definition
A tender brief is when a client states that they need a product made, in which
a production company creates a brief, a proposal & budget which is pitched
to the client. Several production companies may also enter their own briefs
to the client to secure the project. The client will then decide which is the
best proposal submitted and offers the project to that production company.
Advantages
The main advantage is that the client has a wide variety of different ideas
from different companies’ perspectives, which will let them choose which
one they like the most or find the best. In effect, they will be able to
produce the product to a very high standard if one of the pitched ideas they
receive stands out above all of the other ones.
Disadvantages
This type of brief can be a problem if a company’s pitch gets turned down by
the client, as this can set them back in business as it is difficult to gain
sustainable work. The business may have been very optimistic in thinking
that they client would have accepted their proposal, & could have gone as
far to decline any work that they were offered in the time that they would
have been working on this project.

9. COMPETITION BRIEF
Definition
A competition brief is made available to all production companies
that are participating on the brief. Each company will complete the
brief to their own standards. Each completed project will be judged
and the best will be awarded the project or has the project
published. This brief is often used as a free to enter competition,
and the client only has to pay the winning company (if not,
anything.)
Advantages
The client only has to pay one winning production company,
sometimes not pay them at all. As the fact that they have multiple
companies producing a product allows them to have a larger
choice of products to choose from, and they may pick the one they
think and believe will be the most successful.
Disadvantages
Companies which participate on this brief may decline other work
that they would receive in order to complete the product. Their
product may not be chosen in which they gain no money for doing
this product & time will have been wasted.

10. MY BRIEF
Which structure/structures will your client brief use?
Reference your reasons for choice/choices
I think that the best structure in order to complete this project
to the best we can would be a tender brief, as it heavily favours
in advatages than disadvantages. Having a tender brief will
mean that the client can easily advertise out that they are in
need of a media product to be made, in similarity to their other
products. If several companies or individuals show interest into
making the product, this means they will have multiple ideas
on how to go about the creation of their product. They will
have the benefit of choosing which brief would suit the product
the best, and they can choose the right media company for
them to complete the product and go on to negotiate. As the
project is being done as part of a college project, this means
the brief can become a competition brief as multiple students
may work on this brief in which would allow some rivalry for
the client to work with and decide which project they think is
the better one etc.

11. READING THE BRIEF
Why is important to thoroughly read your
brief?
It is very important to read the brief you
receive thoroughly so you may see the
nature and the demand of the brief. If
you did not read the brief properly &
only take out certain pieces of
information, you may miss vital
information on the brief which could be
important & potentially, this could affect
your client’s thoughts on the product

12. READING THE BRIEF
What is the nature and demand of your client brief?
The nature of my client brief is to produce a brochure for the SASH (Safe
and Sound Homes) organisation, in which they are aiming to have a
new brochure which is to appeal to 16-25 year olds who might be in
need of the service. It must explain what the Supported Lodgings
scheme is. The wording used in the brochure must fit into the format
and current layout for their Night Stop brochure, and within the
brochure there must be answers to commonly asked questions that a
young person may ask so they can decide whether Supported Lodgings
is right for them. The brochure Must be reassuring and encouraging, as
well as inviting the young person to ask questions. There is no proper
demand from the client, but as of my brief, I will be aiming to spend
around 3-4 weeks on this project for them. In terms of manpower for
the project, I will only need myself, but if I do require any help it would
be from models if I am to take my own photography to include within
the brochure.

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 that you receive from your
client because once you have read the brief in detail, if there is
anything that makes no sense or is not clear, you can bring it
up with the client before starting product. You are also able to
discuss issues with your client to ensure that the product is
feasible, that It does and will not break any laws at all, and that
you completely, fully understand what has been asked of
yourself. This also gives you any time beforehand of the
production to raise points about the brief which you may want
to either alter or find out extra information for production.

14. NEGOTIATING A BRIEF
What are the advantages and disadvantages of employing discretion
with a brief?
In terms of advantages & disadvantages of discretion in a brief, there
are multiple for both parties. A main advantage for employing
discretion in the brief for the production company is that personal
interpretation of some vague details in the brief will be allowed. As the
details being vague, the product is then able to interpret this detail in
whichever they wish, allowing some creative freedom. It can also be
advantageous for the client as they can choose to leave some details
vague then rely upon the product to be creative on how they cover that
area. Employing discretion will also make the brief more flexible
between the producing company and the client, meaning they can
discuss freely different ideas that you have, which the client can either
accept or decline without any hostility. On the other hand, discretion
can cause disadvantages such as issues can be caused in the contract
due to different interpretations, so the client may leave an area vague
in detail so as they do not know how to best describe their desire, in
which the producer may interpret these details in their own way, which
can lead to a difference in opinion, and the project not being what the
client desired, which could lead to refusal of the product. The brief may

15. NEGOTIATING A BRIEF
Are there any potential legal/ethical/regulatory issues with the brief’s
proposed product?
There are not any potential legal issues within the brief that I have
received, as the brief is from a large successful company which is very
specific in what they would like included within the product. There are
no ethical or regulatory issues either, as the product that I am creating
will be seen & judged on by the head of the company, in which she will
state whether there are any problems with my product which hit into
these boundaries. I will have to consider the ecological theme of the
product as It is a leaflet, many will need to be produced. I will need to
consider using materials which are good recycling materials to
minimise waste, otherwise the public may see it as a product which is
impacting upon landfill and therefore this make the product less
appealing to the target audiences. This will be an issue that we will
have to think about when designing the product.

16. NEGOTIATING A BRIEF
Amendments you have considered to:
The Product
I have considered amendments to my project as it may need some change for
it due to the lack of time. Since I do not have a massive amount of time to
produce the product for the client, it may have to slightly change in order to
finish it on time, or to a good standard that they will like.
The Budget
There will be no amendment to budget as I do not need to pay for any of the
resources that I am using, any personnel as I am not needing them, & I do
not need to pay for any travelling issues as I will not be travelling to my
client for this project. If my client were to wish to meet, then I would have to
pay for transport to them.
The Conditions
The brief that I have received will not need any amendments as I am doing
this for a college project. As of this, I will not require payment for the work
that I produce, and I will not need any further information on the conditions
as they are very simple in which I have been tasked to do.

17. OPPORTUNITIES
What opportunities could this brief allow you to explore?
Self Development
This project can help me develop majorly as a media product. This is
because I will be gaining experience working with clients who require
strong work for their product. This means I will gain more self
confidence in the work that I produce and deliver to my client as I will
have more time to focus on the task
Learning new skills
I will be learning new skills ranging from editing on Photoshop, to
emotes and being able to follow a brief to high expectations. I will also
gain a better understanding if what my brief states clearly what they
are after. I will also gain more knowledge about working to a specific
deadline for a client, as well as getting more skills by completing the
work set.

18. OPPORTUNITIES
Multi-skilling
There will be an opportunity in which I must multi task 2
different jobs so that I gain a better understanding about the
working industry. In terms of multi skilling with other people, I
will not be doing this as I will be working alone on the project.
Contributing to a project
This brief will give me a chance to contribute to a bigger
project. This is because if the brochure was finished and to a
good standard (and similar style to SASH’s Night Stop), then
there may be a chance that it could be used within their
company when handing them out to teenagers. As of this, it
could even further lead to employment with them, but that may
not always be the case.