Working to a brief

1. WORKING TO A
BRIEF
LO1
Tom Brett

2. CONTRACTUAL BRIEF
Definition – A contractual brief is when a company signs an agreement set by another company or their
client to do specific jobs in a specific time frame for a specific amount of money. These briefs tend to be
fairly formal as there is a lot of things to cover as well as the fact it all has to be set out to meet both
parties needs. My brief is similar to this in some aspects because there are certain guidelines set by my
client that I have to follow as well as a certain time it all has to be finished for. It is not as formal as a
contractual brief nor is any form of money involved.
Advantages – The most advantageous thing about contract briefs is the security and assurance you have
with it, because both parties involved with the brief want to gain something out of it, the client will want
work done to a high enough standard where as the company/worker will want money for what they
have made. This point could be both an advantage or a disadvantage, but because it is a formal
contractual brief then there will be guidelines to follow, there will be specific requirements and a
deadline to work with. This is an advantage because it lets you know what you are working with and it
lets you plan out what you are going to do and how much time you need to spend on it. My brief has
mentioned about certain requirements that need meeting with the products I am going to make, this is
helpful because it gives me something to start with.
Disadvantages – Having all these guidelines and requirements can be seen as a disadvantage as well
because it can cause a lot of stress which can further lead to worse symptoms. Having a deadline could
also cause you to rush your work meaning that the end product will be at a low quality and you might
not get paid as much as was originally agreed. Another disadvantage to a contractual brief is that
because you have agreed and signed to do the work, if you don’t do it at a high enough quality or you
don’t hand it in for the deadline then the client can just pull out of the deal and not pay you, meaning
you have wasted a lot of your time for nothing.

3. FORMAL BRIEF
Definition – This is where a client will provide a brief for you or a
company that has got all the necessary details and requirements on
it. This brief does not contain every detail on it, just the
necessities, if there were any further information that needs to be
added then that would have to be discussed during future
negotiations.
Advantages – There are a few advantages to this style of brief, the
main one being that both parties and both sides of the brief have
to formally agree, this mutual agreement shows that both parties
are willing to complete their tasks to the best of their ability. This
means it offers you a sense of security because of that deal you
have made as part of the brief.
Disadvantages – A few disadvantages to this style of brief are that
you don’t get every detail as part of it because the brief just covers
the simple necessities that are needed for the tasks that will be
completed. This means you have to go through extra effort and
negotiations just to get some additional information which should
have been part of the brief.

4. INFORMAL BRIEF
Definition – An informal brief is a type of brief in which the process does not
involve a contract or any form of written documentation, instead the
agreements will be made verbally through discussions between the client
and the company. Unlike the contractual and the formal brief, this style of
brief might not have a set completion date because it is informal.
Advantages – There are advantages and disadvantages to this brief, one
advantage is that because it is an informal brief, there is no set completion
date, this can be an advantage because it causes less stress trying to work
to a deadline, this way you can work at your own pace and to the best of
your ability because you’re not rushing. It will also be a more relaxed
meeting between the client and the customer, this will stop tensions from
building, and also helps to create friendlier links with the companies and
companies that are tied in as well.
Disadvantages – A disadvantage to this style of brief is the same as an
advantage, because there isn’t a set completion date or a contract involved
this style of brief becomes very risky. This is bad because the client can pull
out at any moment meaning that there is a loss of money and a loss of a
client as well. This could be bad for the company as well because they might
have paid a lot of money towards the client and they may not deliver what
you demanded.

5. CO-OPERATIVE BRIEF
Definition – A co-operative brief is when two or more companies who will be
producing the selected product by the client are hired to work together on a
specific brief to complete the project. If there is a disagreement between the
two companies or with one of the companies and the client, then a
negotiated brief will have to be used in order to appease both of the
companies so they are happy to do the work for the client.
Advantages – One advantage to this style of brief is that there are two
companies working together, this can build up chemistry between the two
companies and makes the production of the product less lonely. Having two
companies working on the same thing can also be a good thing because it
can shorten time on production because there are two sets of people
working on the product, its also good because both companies will get an
insight into how the other company works and what techniques they use to
produce their products.
Disadvantages – A disadvantage to this style of brief is that it requires a lot
of communication and agreement, this could be a problem because there
could be a chance that the companies involved may not agree with each
other meaning that they would have to receive a negotiated brief each.

6. NEGOTIATED BRIEF
Definition – As explained before, a negotiated brief is distributed to
the two or more companies as well as the client if either of them
could not come to an agreement as part of the co-operative brief,
this brief would have been changed and edited so it can appease
all of the parties meaning that they will work to the brief because it
has something the can or want to do in it. These changes could be
simple like changing the colour schemes or font types, or they
could be more complicated like facing certain legal restrictions.
Advantages – The biggest advantage to this style of brief is that it
makes for a good back up plan if the co-operative brief fails to be
completed due to the parties not coming to an agreement. Another
advantage to this is that the parameters to the brief can be
changed to it fits to match every parties needs.
Disadvantages – One disadvantage is that companies and clients
only use this brief if a previous brief fails due to a lack of
agreement between companies and clients. Another disadvantage
is that every party has to compromise at least something in order
to go through with this brief.

7. COMMISSION BRIEF
Definition – A commission brief is when a large media company hires a
smaller media company to create a product for them instead of having an
external client. However the product created by the smaller company can be
used by the larger company for an external client, but the smaller company
who have made the original product will be paid for making it and might
even get some of the profit whenever the product has a sale.
Advantages – An advantage for the company is that instead of using a client,
the company will use another smaller company, this means that their
previous work will be easier to find so the larger company can make their
judgment on whether or not to use that company. An advantage for the
smaller company who will be creating the products is that they will be
making a lot of money due to the bigger company having a good income,
and especially if the smaller company gets a margin of the profits. Another
advantage for the smaller company is that their work might get recognised
by other large companies meaning that if more companies ask the smaller
company then the smaller company will get more money.
Disadvantages – A disadvantage with this brief is for the larger company
because they will probably be paying more money if they are using a smaller
company to do their work instead of an external client. This is risky because
there is more money on the line then the larger company will have higher
expectations and expect the smaller company to deliver everything above
standard.

8. TENDER BRIEF
Definition – A tender brief is when a client publishes on the internet or
advertises on shops that they need a media product to be made, then
multiple production companies will create briefs, a proposal, and a budget
which will all be pitched to the client. After all the production companies
have pitched their proposals, the client will choose the best proposal and
offer the project to that company.
Advantages – There are a few advantage to this brief, an advantage for the
client is that they do not have to look for companies to work for them but
the companies will be wanting to do the work for the client, and because the
company wants to do the work then the work that is produced for the client
will be at a high quality. An advantage for the production company is that it
will be easy to have a chance of getting some work and money because the
client will probably look at every applicant.
Disadvantages – There are a few disadvantages to this brief, a disadvantage
for the client is that there is a chance that they don’t get any applications
from production companies, this means that they wont be able to get any
work done. A disadvantage for the production company is that there will be
multiple other companies who have also applied which means the chances
of getting the job are very low.

9. COMPETITION BRIEF
Definition – The competition brief is similar in a few ways to the tender brief,
in the same way that production companies will go to a brief that is made
available to them, however unlike the tender brief, each company will
actually complete the brief and create the best product they possibly can.
All the completed products and projects will be judged and reviewed by the
client and the best project has their work published and potentially paid for.
Advantages – An advantage to this style of brief for the production company
is that entering the competition is free, so there is not much at stake
however it will be seriously worth it if the companies project gets judged as
the best. An advantage for the client is that they do not have to pay to get
work done for them, this means that they can get a lot of profit and will not
lose money if all the end products and projects are not up to standard.
Disadvantages – A disadvantage to this style of brief for the production
company is that there is a lot of competition so there is a low chance of the
client using the work, also the client might not even pay the winning
company because they don’t have to which means that the company might
have wasted a lot of time when they could have been doing paid work for
other clients. A disadvantage for the client is that they might not get any
work that is up to standard because the competition is free to enter where
as they could have paid a bit of money to get some good work done by a
well known production company.

10. MY BRIEF
The style of brief that fits with the brief me and my client are
working with is a formal brief. This is because we do not have
to sign a contract but everything is written down on paper and
not verbally discussed, unless me and the client are talking
about any additional details because all that is written on the
brief is just necessary information. There was also no legal
binding with the brief however there was a final agreement on
the project, however the client themselves are quite lenient to
the deadline.

11. READING THE BRIEF
It is important that I thoroughly read my brief because I need things to
be clear and to make sense otherwise I may get confused when I start
production meaning that I might not create a product that the client
has asked for. Another reason why it is important to thoroughly read
the brief is to check if there are any legal, ethical, and regulatory issues
with it because I there is and it has not been clearly stated then I could
accidentally break the law because I did not properly check the brief
and have a detailed discussion with my client.

12. READING THE BRIEF
The nature of the brief explains that I should be making to Flyers for my
client, these flyers should be promoting the holiday in a positive way so
it gives the children and the parents of the children the intent of going
on the holiday. The flyers should contain appropriate images as well as
images of campers as long as the parents of the campers have given
their consent to it, the flyers themselves should represent the holiday
as well as being suitable for the target audience. There were specific
requirements that were mentioned in the brief and that was to have two
different logos somewhere on the flyers.

13. NEGOTIATING A BRIEF
It is important to discuss the brief with my client before production
because it is helpful to talk about parts of the brief that don’t make
sense and it is easier to explain and understand someone if you are
talking to them in person instead of talking to them over email. It is
also helpful to discuss the brief to mention any details that were not
actually documented because it will be a formal brief, this way I will
have as much knowledge about the project as possible meaning that
the work I produce will be as good as it can be in terms of working to
the brief.

14. NEGOTIATING A BRIEF
An advantage to employing discretion with a brief is that you can create
products with your own spin on it, this allows you to be more creative
and show off to your client how much flair you have. If done
successfully then the client might contact you more in the future
because they are impressed with your work, the client might also
recommend other companies to contact you about work they want
doing. A disadvantage to employing discretion with a brief is that it
might be tough to not compromise or conflict what has been stated in
the brief, and if you compromise or create conflict with what has been
briefed then you will not create what was wanted by the client meaning
that you wont receive payment and it will leave a mark on you
reputation amongst the media industry.

15. NEGOTIATING A BRIEF
I will face no regulatory issues with my product because my brief does
not mention anything that could potentially cause me to face these
issues. However there is a lot of opportunity to face and legal and
ethical issues because I have been asked to use photos of the campers
on the holiday, however these campers are under the age of 18 which
means I will have to get parental consent for them. I have managed to
work round this by using photos from the website meaning that not
only do I not face copyright issues but all the photos will have parental
consent because the organisation I am doing work for have already
asked the parents for consent so they could take the photos in the first
place. Another legal issue that I could possibly face is if I download a
font from online that is not 100% free to use, because the font would
be used for commercial purposes that can be accessed by anyone.

16. NEGOTIATING A BRIEF
Amendments you have considered to:
The Product – After reading the brief and having discussions with the
client, I am happy with the products I have been given to make.
However, I have only been given two flyers to create because that is all
the client wanted and needed.
The Budget – I have not been given a budget for this project because it
is part of a college course and because of this I am doing work for the
client for free. I have not been asked to make anything that causes me
to ay more than I am expected to pay, which is nothing.
The Conditions – Me and my client have spoken about certain
conditions, because this work is part of my college course I am not
allowed to receive payment from the client which means I will not get
overpaid or underpaid, and I am in constant access to the equipment
that is needed to complete this project.

17. OPPORTUNITIES
What opportunities could this brief allow you to explore?
Self Development – This project can help me develop as a media
producer because it has given me the chance to explore new ideas and
has let me work with external clients. Working with an external client
has helped me to develop my communication skills as well as working
to a brief to get my product up to a standard set by the client that I
need to meet. I will need to use all these skills in the future as a media
producer because I will need to contact multiple different people to do
work for in order to get payment.
Learning new skills – This project has allowed me to explore new ideas
as well as exploring new practical skills such as features in programs
such as Photoshop that I have not used before, but because I have used
them in this project I will be able to use them in future projects as well.
Another new skill that I have learned is being able to contact people in
order to make work for myself to deliver back to the client at a high
enough standard.

18. OPPORTUNITIES
Multi-skilling – In this project generally there are a lot of opportunities
to use skills that have been developed in the past for multiple different
production styles. However, for me, I only have to create 2 flyers which
only involves me using Photoshop, this means I wont be able to
experiment with different forms of media but there a lot of
opportunities for multi skilling in future briefs.
Contributing to a project – The organisation that my client has asked
work for has a lot of possible opportunities for more work because
they have only just created a new website which I could possibly help
with, and they have a lot of opportunities for more design work and
promotional material such as merchandise, leaflets, and promotional
videos and other forms of media.