The Vegetarian Recipe Cards brief requires the production of 8 recipe cards with a recipe and photo on both sides that adhere to a theme. The cards must use 100% recycled paper and vegetable inks and be produced as a set of 3,500 copies. While the brief provides clear guidelines, negotiating amendments may be needed regarding materials, budget, or timeline to ensure high quality within specifications. The brief also provides opportunities for skill development like designing, using new equipment, and multi-tasking to complete the project on schedule.

1. Working to a Brief
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2. Contractual Brief
Definition A contractual brief is a brief that a media company enters with a specific task and
specific guidelines, a time limit and fee set in writing. It is important for the company to stick
to the agreement, if they fail to do so it can result to breech of contract they could face legal
action or you could not get paid.
Advantages
• You know what you have to do and a set fee at the end. It is organised.
• The brief will be detailed to a specific product so the company knows what they are doing.
Disadvantages
• If you do not read the contract correctly you could be signing something you cannot do or
agree with.
• The fixed time could be a problem and could cost you your fee if it is not handing in on time.
• If the company feels there needs to be changes it will not fit to the standards asked for and
they could face legal action, loss of money and a bad reputation.

3. Formal Brief
Definition This is when a client provides a media company with a brief that simply
establishes the product they wan to be brief only contains the necessary information
needed to complete the project. Any additional information will need to be gained
during negotiations with the client. Like the Contractual brief the parties involved will
formally agree on the project however a formal brief is not always legally binding.
Advantages:
• It is very relaxed and very easy to understand.
• This type of brief means that the client is open to any ideas or issues if there are any that
could be raised by the media company that is employed, this makes the work quite creative
for the media company, there is always room for negotiation.
Disadvantages:
• The media company may feel that the client has not offered enough information for them to
complete the product to the standard that the client wishes.
• Also the fact that the brief is not always legally binding could bring up problems within the
project with things such as financial issues or a breech of contract.

4. Informal Brief
Definition This is usual a verbal contract. The client and the employer discuss the
requirements for the product they will be making and ultimately agree upon the project.
Nothing is written down which can be risky if anything is changed. An informal brief is good
for a small photography for a wedding of someone you know but bigger companies it can be
risky.
Advantages
• Lots of verbal communication
• With lots of detailed communication the employer should be able to perform at their best
and complete the project to the standards asked for.
Disadvantages
• There is not written document or contract to prove the employment and if the client fails to
pay the employer there is no legal action that can be won.
• Schedules may be confusing for both parties as nothing is written down to organise
everyone.

5. Co-Operative Brief
Definition: This is when two or more production companies are hired to work on a specific
brief. That mean that the companies then have to work together in order to complete
the project. However if the two companies have a disagreement a negotiated brief
would have to be submitted to appease both companies
Advantages:
• This type of brief means that there can be more perspectives to creating the product needed
by the client and therefore means that the brief can be more understood than if there were
only one company working on the project.
Disadvantages:
• This type of brief is more prone to conflict and disagreements. This would be caused by the
ideas given to the media companies by the client.

6. Negotiated Brief
Definition A negotiated brief will be used if a co-operative brief given to the two or more
media companies that are helping to compete the project have any issues between
themselves about anything in the brief that they need to change or discuss. Negotiations to
the brief can be changed in order to suite each party. This can include changing the
appearance of the product or changing the products content. Although it is verbally
discussed it is still written down in the contract.
Advantages
• The brief is open to suggestions therefore it can fit in abetter schedule and the product can
be made better if the employers think so.
• Lots of verbal communication.
Disadvantages
• Negations can take time and it can delay the product
• If the parties do not get on it can cause conflict or loss of business.

7. Commission Brief
Definition: This brief is where a large media company will employ an other independent
media company to create and produce the product for them, and after the product has
been made the larger company may go on to use the product for an external client who
will pay the independent media company for making the product and they could even
get a cut.
Advantages:
• This type of brief means that larger companies do not have to do all of the hard work. They
can sub-contract the work that is set in the brief out to another company and each company
will both receive money for the work they have contributed.
Disadvantages:
• In this brief they are two different companies working on a project and this could cause
conflict and disagreements, but because the brief is not negotiated with the client, the
product made may not be to the client’s standards.

8. Tender Brief
Definition A tender brief is when a client will advertise their brief and a production team
will build a proposal that they will pitch to different clients so the clients will then get the
chance to choose the proposal that they think best suits their brief and offers the job to that
production company.
Advantages
• Clients can look at different proposals and ideas to make their product better to achieve the
most successful product.
Disadvantages
• If a companies pitch is turned down by a client this can set them back in business, it is very
hard to gain work.
• Thinking a client would accept their proposal and if they decline any other work they were
offered it could have effect on business.

9. Competition Brief
Definition: A brief is made to all participating production companies. It can be It can sometimes
been seen as a free competition as each production company will complete the brief and the
client can then judge which company has the best project. The client has to pay for the
winning company.
Advantages:
• The client only has to pay the one winning production company, but sometimes will not have
to pay them at all.
• They have multiple companies producing a product meaning that they have a larger choice of
products and can choose the one that they believe will be the most successful.
Disadvantages:
• The companies that are turned down by the client may become disheartened as they have
missed out on potential work and money.

10. My Brief
Which type of brief is being used in the recipe card project? Explain your response.
The brief we will be using is a formal brief. This is when a client provides a media
company with a brief that simply establishes the product. It contains the necessary
information needed for the project. We are using this brief because it is very
relaxed and easy to understand. If we need additional information we will be able
to gain this with negotiating with the client. Because it is a creative project this
brief means that the client is open to ideas and if there is any issues they can be
raised by the media company.
The things that show that the brief is a formal brief is the way it formally tells you
in the written document a simple outline of what the company wants from you in
the final product, for example it tells us how many cards need to be printed and a
set of 8 different recipes on the cards need to be printed. The material needed to
be used has also been informed.

11. Reading the Brief
Why is important to thoroughly read your brief?
Ensuring you read the brief thoroughly will allow you to completely understand
what you have been asked. This allows you to understand the nature and the
demand too. The nature is what has been asked of you, what the final product is
to be expected etc. and the demand is the time schedule and man power needed.
Hypothetically if we did not read the brief we would not know the details in which
the client wanted their product produced to and if a time schedule was not
possible but you signed the brief you would be breeching the contract and could
face legal actions or not get paid for your work.

12. Reading the Brief
What is the nature of the Vegetarian Recipe Cards brief?
The nature of this brief is to provide some creative designs for a set of vegetarian recipe
cards that will include a recipe that is suitable for vegetarians and a photograph of the food.
Eight cards have been asked to be produced and they have to be recognised as a set, they
could be connected by a theme based on certain country/culture or an specific age range.
The client has asked for there to be a design on both the front and back of the recipe card.
What is the demand of the Vegetarian Recipe Cards brief?
The demands that has been given through the brief is to use 100% recycled paper and
vegetable inks when producing the product. The client usually uses 350gsm paper stock so
we will be sure to provide them with this as it keeps in theme with their other products. The
client has also stated that they would like 3,500 copies of the product.

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 when you meet your client so you are able to discuss
changes and things you are not happy with. It is also a good opportunity for any issues to be
raised, it also offer any ideas that you have to maybe added to the project. You can then
begin to ‘green light’ any ideas that you think can work with in the future. If you complete
the product with your own ideas that you have not negotiated with the client you may not
get paid if you have not spoken to them about it first and if you have not worked to the
guidelines within the brief that your client has provided.
For example a company wants to place their logo on hoodies but in summer so hoodies wont
be sold as much. The company could consider putting them on t-shirts so they would sell
more in the season. This will be negotiated with the client and employer.

14. Negotiating a Brief
What are the advantages and disadvantages of employing discretion with a brief?
When negotiating a brief the advantages of this are a positive digression within a brief
would make the brief more flexible between you and the client. This would mean
that you would be able to discuss freely different ideas that you have for the client
and they will be able to accept or decline them without any hostility. The
disadvantages would be that the brief could be seen as being quite flakey with the
respect that certain aspects may not be set in stone.

15. Negotiating a Brief
Are there any potential legal/ethical/regulatory issues with the Vegetarian Society brief’s
proposed product?
There are not any legal problems within this brief, however there may be some
issues with keeping within the ecological theme of the product if it comes to
laminating the product. Because the recipe cards will be used in a kitchen by the
customers, it would be good for the cards to be laminated, however this would
then make the product non biodegradable and it will not fit the brief and product
asked for and it is not 100% recycled material like the client has asked for. This is
an issue that will need to be discussed when designing the product.

16. Negotiating a Brief
Amendments you have considered to;
The Product
After reading the brief there may be some things that will need to be changed such as any
overly ambitious deadlines, time schedules and scopes to make the product the best it can
be. The material used needs to be thought of because of the 100% recycled material, the cost
could be a problem.
The Budget
Always make sure there is enough finance supplied to the project in order to complete it.
Amendments to the project may need to be considered if there isn't. if this was the case the
budget of the project would need to be increased or the scope of the project will need to be
decreased.
The Conditions
If the project took longer than what was produced in the contract you may need to discuss
this with the client to the prospects to having to increase your pay. After the contract is
signed, this might be difficult. Make sure negotiation takes place with your client before your
project starts.

17. Opportunities
What opportunities could this brief allow you to explore? Be specific with your responses.
Self Development
The brief will be a good opportunity to find tasks that particularly good at, there may be
certain aspects that may include us learning new skills. This will build our self development as
we will be practicing ones we already know and learning new important and helpful skills.
Learning New Skills
There could be such things as designing cards, this may mean we need to use new equipment
and strategies. This will teach use new skills and strengthen our abilities.
Multi-Skilling
We will not have a large production team we will need to allocate ourselves between the
both of us. We will have to multi-skill to complete parts of the project and complete it by the
deadline.
Contributing to a brief
Going through the brief we have come to the conclusion that mind maps and mood boards
will help generate ideas that we can put towards the product but we need to stick to the
brief set by the client.