2. CONTRACTUAL BRIEF
Definition: A contractual brief is the most common and one of the safest brief
formats because it involves a contract that is evidenced by the business that you
are wanting to work with. The brief with entail a set period of time in which you
will be working for them and they will explain what work you will be doing for
them. Giving a clear indication of what they are expecting you to do while
working for them.
Advantages: A contractual brief allows you to see exactly what a company is
wanting from you because it is in a written format which can be used as
evidence if they claim anything out of the ordinary which hadn’t been explained
in their contract. A contractual brief is also good because it allows you to follow
what they want, almost as a checklist, so that you can follow if you have done
everything they have asked.
Disadvantages: The disadvantages of a contractual brief is that if you do not
follow what the brief has explained to you it could lead to legal action being
taken. This could be because you didn’t complete what they had asked in the
time frame of what they wanted or if they see you have shown inappropriate
content or strayed away from the style of their business too much making it
seem as disrespectful to their work. Another disadvantage is that if you don’t
3. FORMAL BRIEF
Definition: A formal brief explains to who ever is going to be working for said
business will be doing for them. Such as what they will be producing for them,
how much, specific details to what they want seen in the work that you produce
for them, etc. However, that is all of the information shown in the brief. Nothing
is legal binding in the brief leaving open ended questions with aspects such as
payment, time-frame, credits due, etc. So even though all parties are involved in
the agreement of the brief and are aware of what the brief has shown there is
no form of evidence for any legal information discussed afterwards.
Advantages: You get the experience of having a negotiation with the client you
are working with on lot of information in the time you are working with this
client. You also get a clear picture of what they are wanting from you, giving
you a lot of freedom to do the work as shown in the brief.
Disadvantages: Due to there being no legal binding with the brief it means that
many issues can occur. Such as forms of payment because if there isn’t any
evidence of such in the brief the company could easily say at the end you time
with them that they aren’t going to pay you. Which will be final because there is
no legal evidence of such in the brief that you had agreed to.
4. INFORMAL BRIEF
Definition: An informal agreement is when it is only a verbal agreement to the
terms and work that you will be producing for you client. There is no written
evidence of any kind with this form of brief, you are simply asked to do some
work of a business and you agree to what they are asking you to do with no
legal binding or any binding at all besides agreeing.
Advantages: If the work they have asked you to do is in a quick timeframe and is
freelance it means that you can quickly do the work for them. Which could lead
to them recommending you to another business because you worked so quickly
for them when doing freelance work which could lead to further
recommendations from more and more businesses you’ve worked for leading to
larger projects with more official forms of briefs where you will get formally
represented.
Disadvantages: The disadvantage to this brief is that there is no evidence
whatsoever on what is being agreed to with this work. A company could clearly
say to you that they’re going to pay you so much of an amount and you’ll need
to get the work done within a long perid of time but they could easily turn
around and ask you to get the work done sooner than you thought and then not
pay you anything for work. Even if you followed what they had asked because
there isn’t any evidence to what has been agreed to. There are many loopholes
5. CO-OPERATIVE BRIEF
Definition: A co-operative brief is where two, or more, companies work together
on one set brief by one company. This means that the two companies will be
needed to meet and discuss what is going to be needed to complete the
requirements of the brief for the business they are working for.
Advantages: The advantages to working with a co-operative brief is gaining to
experience of working with other companies which can broaden your ideas for
what to produce for you work and gain contacts with another company to work
with in the future because of how well you worked with on this brief. Another
advantage to working on a brief like this is that you the briefs format is very
clear and detailed to what they are wanting as a result at the end of you
working with them.
Disadvantages: The main disadvantage to working with a co-operative brief is
that when working with another company you are going to need to work well
together to get the work done. Mainly due to the fact that the work isn’t
between these two companies alone but that the end result of this work is for
another company that is going to be paying them, if the work is done correctly,
and their reputation for working professionally could be tarnished because the
work for another business couldn’t be completed.
6. NEGOTIATED BRIEF
Definition: A negotiated brief is where two, or more, companies are working
together on a brief already assigned to them but due to the two companies
working on this brief having conflicting ideas and views on what needs to be
done when producing the work a negotiated brief can be taken into action.
Which is where the original brief is changed to appeal all parties involved,
including the client who assigned the original brief but is still wanting to work
with these two other companies to produce the work for their business.
Advantages: The advantages of a negotiated brief is that you gain the experience
of working along side another company, like with a co-operative brief, but due
to changes being made you can find a way to express the two companies ideas
together rather than separately. It also allows the company you are working for
to see the potential from both companies and the vision they both what to
express for the brief given to them first hand.
Disadvantages: The disadvantages of this brief is that it is needed to be done
due to the two companies who were working together weren’t able to
compromise so there needed to be a negotiation. Another disadvantage is that
the work given to the them after the negotiated brief might not actually be what
the client was wanting due to them needing to make a new brief over the
original. Meaning the client won’t be completely satisfied with the end result
7. COMMISSION BRIEF
Definition: A commission brief is where a large media company will hire two, or
more, independent companies to work up a brief of their own together and
work from that to produce work for the client.
Advantages: The main advantage to this type of brief is that it allows the two
companies complete freedom to produce work on their own terms to present to
the client and work from what they then say about it. Similar to a co-operative
brief and a negotiated brief the two companies will gain the experience of
working along side each other and work with different styles, or similar, to
broaden what they already know to produce work beyond what they would have
done on their own. And because this is work made for such a large company it
means that if they’re satisfied with the work produced for them it will be
broadcasted on a large scale shown to multiple other companies which could
lead to further work with other large media companies.
Disadvantages: The disadvantages to this type of brief is that there is set amount
of boundaries and needs meaning the two, or more, independent companies are
essentially going in blind to produce content for their client. This could lead to
them making multiple pieces or work for their client but because the client
didn’t specify what they were wanting from the companies working for them it
means that they could reject every piece of work that they make for them.
8. TENDER BRIEF
Definition: A tender brief is used almost in an auditioning process in which a
client will publish out that they are in need of a media product to be made. This
will then be seen by multiple other companies who will create a brief for the
client outlining what they will be making for them, how and what it will look like
as well as budget, an overall proposal to the client. Due to this request being
broadcasted out there will be multiple other companies doing the same thing
which leaves the client to decide on the one they like the best and work with
them.
Advantages: An advantage to a tender brief is that there this the experience of
presenting to a client how you will take charge in this project to their client on
all aspects. This will show you professionalism towards a project and show how
you would stand out amongst others who are presenting ideas on a similar
level.
Disadvantages: The main disadvantage to a tender brief is not being the one
chosen to do the work for the client after you worked up a brief and presented
it to them. Mainly because you won’t be able to apply that brief anywhere else
because it was tailored towards a specific client.
9. COMPETITION BRIEF
Definition: Similar to a tender brief in which there is an auditioning process to a
competition brief but set out as an actual competition in a business format. A
brief is distributed to appropriate production companies for them to produce
the work wanted from the brief to suit the client. Then when everyone of the
production companies have completed and submitted their work the client the
pick the ‘winner’. Which then results in the chosen piece if work and company
being published and paid. (Often to enter the competition brief it is a free entry
for everyone)
Advantages: This, similar to the tender brief, is a good way in which the
companies competing for to win the publication of their work. Which will result
in your work, and company, being known by other companies who are also
competing. There is also the advantage of potentially winning and having your
work published on a large scale which will make you company and work be even
more well known in your business sector. As well as pushing yourself to be the
one who does win at the end of the competition brief which allows you to learn
more, be more creative and think outside the box of what you may already done
in the past.
Disadvantages: The main disadvantage to doing a competition brief is that you
could potentially lose and the work that you have done which has been tailored
10. MY BRIEF
Which structure/structures will your client brief use?
Reference your reasons for choice/choices
The structure of the brief that my client with use is a cross
between a contractual and formal brief. This being that when
explaining to my client the time frame of which the project will
be taking place, two weeks, I had done in person and isn’t
going to be on the brief given to them. I had also discussed
that the work would be freelance so there was no matter of
payment to be taken out. The contractual part of the brief is in
which my client explains what they are wanting me to make the
specifications they are requiring through it.
11. READING THE BRIEF
Why is important to thoroughly read your brief?
Why it is important for me to read through the brief that my client has
given me is because they are asking specific requirements for me to
make for them in regards to their business. For instance, if my client is
wanting me to keep certain content away from what they want with
their store then I will need to make to know of that so that I don’t
violate any of their requirements because it could harm the stores
reputation. As well as the fact that if the business has a certain look
and feel to it they may not what to stray from that which is what they
will explain within their brief to you. There may also be parts within the
brief that they want in the content that you produce for them that you
disagree with making for them because it could harm your own
reputation as you are the one who is creating the content for them. For
instance my client is an independent bookshop in York and if I
assumed that all they’d want in their content is character from
storybooks when in actuality they were wanting content that had
inappropriate content of content that strays far from their branding
confusing or upsetting their audience it could fall on the creator of the
content.
12. READING THE BRIEF
What is the nature and demand of your client brief?
The nature and demand of my clients brief is based around their store,
which an independent one so that they aren’t very well known outside
the city of York. So the nature and demand that they will be wanting
from me when I produce the content that they are asking for in their
brief it will have an advertising point of view to it so that their store can
be promoted on a larger scale. They will also be wanting me to appeal
to a larger audience, outside of children because they have a reputation
of being known as a children’s bookshop which they aren’t really. So
getting the word out to their audience that they sell books for all ages,
adult more then children actually.
13. NEGOTIATING A BRIEF
Why is it important to discuss the brief with your client prior to
production?
Because it will allow the client to really think about any of the content
that they are wanting you to produce for them. This way when it comes
to them filling out the brief for you they will have specific wants for you
to produce for them. Rather than giving them the brief right away and
having them complete it in a quick space of time and not giving you
want they really want you to complete because they didn’t have a
decent amount of time to complete it. It is also good the discuss the
brief with your client after they have competed it so that you can go
into even further detail with them over what they have asked you to do
which adds to the development of your work when producing it for
them.
14. NEGOTIATING A BRIEF
What are the advantages and disadvantages of employing discretion
with a brief?
Because it will allow for the client to have freedom with what they are
wanting you to produce to them. If giving example to them you may
planting an idea in their minds away from what they are wanting and
not really what they were thinking of to begin with. However, if you
employ discretion to your client they may not know they want from
you. Because I am approaching them and giving them the brief myself
for them to fill out unlike them contacting someone they may be
unaware of my skills set. Either underestimating or overestimating
which could lead to a brief being lacking in information and content to
produce or filling out the brief with content I am not capable of doing.
There is also the fact that because I am contacting them I may need to
explain my reasoning's.
15. NEGOTIATING A BRIEF
Are there any potential legal/ethical/regulatory issues with the brief’s
proposed product?
There may be legal issues involving the work that I produce for them
because they are bookshop meaning they will be wanting content
involving other books and stories. If I don’t follow the appropriate
copyright laws involving works from other artists, such as illustrations,
photographs, quotes, etc. I, and the store itself, could have legal
troubles. Such as if I were to have images, illustrations, quotes, etc.
from Harry Potter there would be legal issues involved. However, using
images from Alice In Wonderland and Winnie The Pooh would be fine
because of the copyright law stating public domain over images and
such when the work is over 70 years old.
16. NEGOTIATING A BRIEF
Amendments you have considered to:
The Product
I will be needing to do research into the copyright law when making content for them as
well as understanding my time frame with the project with how much I can make for my
client. I could underestimate my time and create less than I am capable of or visa versa
and overestimate and think that I could create more than I am capable of and miss the
deadline.
The Budget
The budget for this project will be requiring no money at all because the work that I will be
creating will be from home because I have Photoshop installed there. And the source of
the fonts and images will be from offline. Whereas with the communication involved with
the client I will be using email and going into York to talk with them in person which will
require my bus pass.
The Conditions
Due to the work being classes as freelance in the brief for the project there is no matter of
payment to be issued for me or the my client. However, if they are planning on keeping
any of the products that I have will need to be negotiated after the project has finished.
17. OPPORTUNITIES
What opportunities could this brief allow you to explore?
Self Development
How this project will help me develop as a media producer is by how it
can help me understand what it is like working outside of the
classroom environment and what it is like working with an external
client. As well as working to a brief and requirements that are
somewhat open-ended because the client could change their minds
quickly unlike in with project assignments with give a clear indication
to what they are wanting.
Learning new skills
Skill that I will learn are organising my time and motivation to the work
outside of the classroom environment because I will have the freedom
to be away from it while producing the content. I will also be learning
skills through communicating to the client the work I have produced
and what they would like me to improve upon for them. This could be
through email or in person, or both. Either way I will be responsible for
getting in contact with them.
18. OPPORTUNITIES
Multi-skilling
Not only will I be required to make the work but to make sure that I am
getting the feedback needed to continue with this project so that I can
progress and make the client happy. This means keeping on tip with
my communications with them as well as improvements with my skills
of producing content for them so that they are happy with what I am
making for them.
Contributing to a project
For the project, in terms of producing content, I won’t be needing to
work with anyone else for it because it will all be made on Photoshop.
However I will be working closely with the client to make the work
because it will take their options and vision for me to make the content
wanted. As well as my own to produce different ideas for them.
