ewretr

1. WORKING TO A
BRIEF
LO1
Chris Bailey

2. CONTRACTUAL BRIEF
Definition
A contractual brief is one where the client and producer agree upon a set
task, quantity of production time and the set fee for the task. This brief is
legally binding and if either party fail to meet the requirements they could
face legal action. A producer must read.
Advantages
A contractual brief allows both parties peace of mind when it comes to their
rights in the agreement. Both parties understand what they have signed up
to and what is expected from them, meaning that any issues should be
covered by the agreement such as the process following some kind of
accident that means loss of production pieces or what will happen if the
client doesn’t pay the designer in the end.
Disadvantages
Being tied to a contractual agreement has the downside of often being a legal
document. This means that any issues that arise contrary to the agreement
can often be followed by court proceedings such as lack of payment.
Freelancers may have to face a dilemma when offered a contractual brief as
it may not suit them completely but they will feel obliged to follow through
as the financial side may be more advantageous than an informal brief.

3. FORMAL BRIEF
Definition
A formal brief is less complex than a contractual brief. The formal brief usually comes in a written
document and covers only the essential facts such as the wanted product, time scale and end payment.
Formal briefs are also usually not legally binding, there for there is less pressure on both parties to
follow through with exactly the terms and conditions that agreed on. Other information regarding the
smaller details will be issued during direct negotiations with the client.
Advantages
A formal brief is often issued when both parties are working on a more personal basis than those of a
contractual brief. This means that the communication should be better as many of the terms and
conditions will be covered in personal negotiations either during or before the process begins. Formal
briefs give both parties more leeway in their actions, a client may realise he needs an extra product to
be created half way through the designers production – the client is able to ask the designer if he has
time to create the other product in, just as the client has the right to ask the designer has the right to
deny. A formal brief is usually well structured but not as complex as a contractual brief, yet not as loose
as an informal brief. This gives both parties comfort in knowing the agreement is stable yet there is still
wiggle room.
Disadvantages
The formal brief gives both parties the right to some leeway in what they do and how they do it with the
discretion of their own negotiations. Although this is often seen positively sometimes the fact that the
brief is not legally binding worries the designer or client – usually the freelance designer. The reason for
this is often surrounding the payment of the designer, if the client doesn’t pay in full or decides they
want to pay in a different way such as a month later then the designer will have less power in court to
make the client pay in the initially agreed time.
The worry of payment issues may also lead the designer to follow through with processes that the client
decides halfway through the process in fear of facing issues with the client at a later time. This could
increase the designers work load to an amount that may not be possible and lead to equal or greater
issues at the end of the agreed production time.

4. INFORMAL BRIEF
Definition
An informal brief usually involves no written documents, and is rarely legally binding due
to the lack of evidential agreements by both parties. The brief is usually given verbally
in a discussion and both parties will likely just note down the most important details.
The informal brief gives both parties a lot of leeway so points such as finish dates and
work quantity will often be suggestions rather than agreements. This way the designer
will often be asked to be finished on or around a certain date, and the client will be
asked to pay on or around the hand in date.
Advantages
The informal brief gives both parties a lot of free power throughout the process in what
they would like to be done or not done. The process carries less stress and doesn’t have
the legal concerns that surround a contractual or occasionally a formal brief. An
informal brief is often done between friends or family members for example a business
owner asking his brother to create graphics for the company, meaning the lack of legal
agreements could be covered by the trust and respect owed to each other.
Disadvantages
Both parties are at risk of facing issues that can only be faced personally and wont have
much success in court. Both parties know that if there is a financial issue or the
designer changes their mind regarding the clients usage rights then the disagreement
doesn’t legally have to be set straight. The client could use the product in whatever way
they like once it’s been handed over just as easily as the designer could say they don’t
want to continue the project halfway through. The fact that informal briefs are often
used on a very personal level means that disagreements will usually have negative
consequences on the relationship between both parties.

5. CO-OPERATIVE BRIEF
Definition
When two or more companies are hired to complete a brief, an example of this
could be companies ‘dynamic graphics’ and ‘real sounds’ being hired to complete
the same project hand in hand, with one completing the graphics and the other
completing the sounds. If there is a disagreement in the initial contract a new one
will have to be created that suits both companies and the client.
Advantages
This will often make a task easier for both companies, as they will be able to
communicate with each other easily to ensure what they are doing matches up. If
a company is making motion graphics then the client may constantly have to alert
them to the fact it ‘might not’ suit the audio that they are hoping to have created.
By working hand in hand they can compare work and make sure it expresses the
same quality and information that is suited to the client. It also gives both
companies more freedom to experiment as they wont be stuck making a song for
already designed graphics or vice versa, they will be able to communicate
suggestions to each other to make a more perfected and visually/audibly
entwined final product.
Disadvantages
A co-operative brief makes it harder for a client to create a suitable contract for
both companies and themselves. Some or all parties may have to take a hit in
what they want in order for the agreement to go forward, on company may want
to be one step ahead of the other to lead the process or may want a different
amount of production time.

6. NEGOTIATED BRIEF
Definition
This is when 2 or more media companies are working to a brief and disagree upon
something. This could be design ideas, method of practice or legal boundaries. To
overcome this disagreement a new brief would need to be negotiated to appease both
companies. The negotiated brief will have to fairly compromise each companies needs
in order to settle an equal brief.
Advantages
A negotiated brief has the advantages of being customised to the structure that the
media companies would like to work to. This is very useful when working with 2 or
more media companies as it is likely that problems and disagreements will arise over
the brief or contract. By negotiating fairly, all companies will be able to agree upon a
final brief, each probably taking an equal compromise.
Disadvantages
The negotiated brief is often bad for the client as they will be having to alter their own
needs and wants in the brief to suit the people they are paying. To the client this will be
frustrating as you simply wanted your work to be made but suddenly it is being altered,
or the legal bindings you set up might have to be altered against what you liked. It can
also be hard to appease multiple media companies in the negotiated brief. Finding
equality between 2 companies won’t be too complicated but when you have more than
that communication will be broken down and mixed up. The client will find themselves
having to compromise companies ideas here and there which may upset them more.
Finding a balance between each company will not be easy, especially if a company have
directly opposing views.

7. COMMISSION BRIEF
Definition
This is when a large media company pays a smaller or independent media company to
create content. Often this content will be made for an external client of the large media
company, but will be negotiated between the 2 media companies. The smaller media
company may receive payment in the form of commission every time the product is
used by the larger media companies client, although this will only be a cut of the
payment which may be split between multiple sources.
Advantages
The advantages of this brief is that the larger media company will be able to produce
work without having to pay their own staff do it. The client will be happy with the work
from the larger media company and the smaller company will be able to receive
commission in some cases. This is good as it allows the smaller media company to work
to more important briefs or for bigger companies media products.
Disadvantages
There will clearly be a vertical chain of command and it may take some time for the
smaller media company to hear back from the larger company. If the external client has
issues with the contract and a renegotiation is needed, the larger company may take a
while to feed it back to the smaller company. The power of the larger company may also
dwarf the smaller company and make them feel as though they need to follow briefs
they may not be comfortable with.

8. TENDER BRIEF
Definition
This is when a client announces that they need a media product to be made. Production
companies then form their own briefs, proposal and budget and pitch it to the client in
order to be hired. Due to multiple media companies applying their may be heavy
competition. The client will then have the freedom to choose from a range of proposals
from different media companies which they will choose. The rest will be simply denied
the job.
Advantages
Most of the advantages lay in the path of the client in a tender brief. The client is able to
sit back and relax whilst multiple production companies scramble to create a proposal
for the client. Once the final day of applicants arrives the client will be able to sift
through the proposals and choose the most appealing one. The client has total freedom
in what they choose and why. The media companies are able to spam out many
proposals to different companies like a raffle and hope that somebody gets back to
them with positive news.
Disadvantages
Tender briefs have many disadvantages for the production companies. If 10 production
companies create briefs, budgets, proposals and pitches for the client and only 1 is
chosen then that is a lot of wasted time and money for the companies. In some cases
the client won’t choose any of the companies and simply re-announce their need for
media producers soon after. If a small company really is ‘spamming out’ proposals to
companies here and there then they may end up accepting a contract out of desperation
meaning it may not suit them and they will be easily playable by the client.

9. COMPETITION BRIEF
Definition
A client produces a brief to all participating companies in the competition, each company
then completes the brief and hands in their work. The completed products are then
judged by the the company or sometimes the public, and the company is then awarded
and the project is then published. This is usually a free to enter competition and is seen
on online media jobsites where anybody can have a go. The client will usually reward
the winner in the form of a cash prize, or sometimes other products of worth. Although
sometimes the client will not award anybody anything.
Advantages
This sometimes gives small production companies the chance to have a go at creating
work for companies usually out of their reach. It also gives regular people who design
as a hobby the chance to create work for a company and potentially be rewarded. The
client ends up with many products to look through meaning they can choose freely
from a selection of products that may even be the standard of a professional without
having to pay much at all, if anything.
Disadvantages
The companies and solo people will take a lot of time to complete the brief whilst facing
heavy competition. This means their chances of winning is greatly reduced, often
leaving them with no prize and only lost time.

10. MY BRIEF
Which structure/structures will your client brief use?
My client has provided me with an informal brief that has been
written to me in an email. There is no contractual agreement
and what the client has asked for is malleable.
Reference your reasons for choice/choices
I chose the brief as it was provided by a company I am naturally
interested in. The brief is aimed at young and new
motorcyclists, I was totally new to riding not long ago and
therefor know what would have appealed to me at the time. I
feel that this personal knowledge and experience will
contribute healthily to the products I design.

11. READING THE BRIEF
Why is important to thoroughly read your brief?
It is important to read all kinds of briefs thoroughly, not only those that
are legally binding. The brief will contain information that may be out
of the obvious, and often a designer may just assume the details of the
brief when picking out the main details. The brief I have been provided
with says that the designs must be compliant with the rules of the print
works Lexmoto use. I did not notice this until viewing my brief for the
3rd time. Luckily the compliances seem easily achievable. In a legal
binding contract a client and designer must understand the agreement
fully, this helps both parties avoid falling into legal matters, and if
there is an issue they will know their rights in the contract.

12. READING THE BRIEF
What is the nature and demand of your client
brief?
My brief is informal although still in a text
format. There are specifics to follow, but I
will be able to expand from the specifics my
client has asked for once I have created the
original.

13. NEGOTIATING A BRIEF
Why is it important to discuss the brief with your client prior to
production?
It is important to understand every detail and ask any questions before
the production starts. The reason for this is to make sure that you and
the client don’t realise something was missed out information wise half
way through production. This is also a good time to work out how
much manoeuvrability you have as a designer on the project. Often the
client will have specifics but it is up to you to work out how far out of
the box you can go before the client feels like it’s too far from what
they wanted.

14. NEGOTIATING A BRIEF
What are the advantages and disadvantages of employing discretion
with a brief?
Brief discretion allows you to add your own personal touch as a designer
to projects. Often a client will have certain needs and wants but you,
the designer, knows best about what people like to look at and for that
reason the client will often give you certain freedoms. It is important
during negotiations to figure out how far you can go with your
freedoms though.

15. NEGOTIATING A BRIEF
Are there any potential legal/ethical/regulatory issues with the brief’s
proposed product?
The only issue I could face would be using fonts or images that are not
free to use commercially. To avoid this I will be using specified fonts by
Lexmoto and using images from the Lexmoto website which has been
agreed by the client.

16. NEGOTIATING A BRIEF
Amendments you have considered to:
The Product
I am going to create the exact product the client has asked for, I will
then move on to creating something that stands out a little more to the
consumer, as I feel the original isn’t as appealing as the client may
expect it to be.
The Budget
N/A
The Conditions
N/A

17. OPPORTUNITIES
What opportunities could this brief allow you to explore?
Self Development
This is my first opportunity to work to a real world brief from a business
that I’d enjoy creating work for in the future. It will allow me to test my
time keeping and ability to follow the instructions of a client. After the
project I will be able to look back and work out what went right and
what went wrong, this could potentially help me in the future when
creating work for clients.
Learning new skills
Following a detailed and instructional brief is something I have never
done design wise, this has led me to understand how the briefing
process works. The project will allow me to test how well I can add my
own touch to a product without veering off course too much.

18. OPPORTUNITIES
Multi-skilling
Multiskilling will allow me to cover multiple design subjects and have a
strong and competent knowledge surrounding them. This means I will
be able to cover further grounds in terms of design processes and
products. Opening more doors for me when it comes to design and
work opportunities.
Contributing to a project
Potentially contributing to a commercial project will allow me to add real
word experience to my portfolio. This will show companies and other
clients that my work is strong enough to make it out into the field of
what is becoming a very competitive market in the UK.