There are several types of creative production briefs that outline the relationship between a client and production company. A contractual brief strictly outlines guidelines that must be followed to avoid legal consequences. A negotiated brief allows aspects of the project to be negotiated, requiring strong communication and decision-making skills. A formal brief provides limited information for the company to use their independent thinking to create a product that may exceed expectations.

1. Creative Production Brief Types
Contractual
A contractual brief is a project brief that is declared by a client to a
hired media producer or production company. This type of brief almost
always has specific guidelines set by the client which the receiving party
must adhere to, or they will suffer legal consequences.
This type of brief would give a wide variety of opportunities to develop
skills in a number of areas. Since this type of design brief is given by
another party, that means that the project has an authority that must be
communicated with and reported to, meaning a person would be able to
improve their project coordination skills, as well as presentation and
negotiation skills.
A brief of this type would have a pre-established deadline that a client
would hold the other party accountable for, which means that there is a
strong demand for effective time management skills, while
simultaneously having expectations for technical skills that must be
utilized efficiently during the project period.
Because contractual briefs give a group or individual an opportunity to
work with established names or organisations, this type of brief can be
instrumental to a successful career, by improving the reputation of that
individual or group, making it more likely that other possible clients will
seek to work with them in the future.
Negotiated
A Negotiated brief is a type of brief in which various aspects of the deal
between the client and the other party are not fixed and can be
negotiated between by the two parties. For example, a negotiated brief
can affect the deadline for the project, or something more specific like
the appearance of the product.
This type of brief would be more likely to require and improve
communication skills, as the negotiations would require stronger
persuasion and decision-making abilities.
A brief of this type may grant an employee a greater amount of freedom
for them and their group, but a failure to complete such a brief may

2. result in larger damage to their career compared to a less ‘free’ brief
such as a contractual one.
Formal
A Formal brief is similar to a negotiated brief in that the client and media
producing group or company have the opportunity to negotiate the
various aspects of the project. However, in this type of brief the client
will often give very little information to the other party, instead relying
on the media producing group to create a work from a small foundation.
This type of brief puts a greater emphasis on independent thinking and
design skills, making it a good opportunity to expand on those varieties of
skills. Since the project will be fairly open ended until the final product,
good judgement and time management skills will be necessary to keep
the project running smoothly from beginning to end.
Since the project is more open ended, it’s also a good opportunity to
show off strong design methods and decision making, by providing a
product that may exceed the original expectations of the client.
Informal
An informal brief is one where rather than the details of the project
being dictated and negotiated via statements between the client and the
employed company; the two parties discuss the project face-to-face in a
meeting or otherwise informal location.
Since the project has very few details set in stone it is an opportunity for
the terms to be negotiated with the client. An informal brief creates a
situation where the work can be adjusted to suit the needs of either
client.
Commission
A commission brief is one where, rather than being a product being
negotiated with and created for a client, instead the brief is provided by
another media company, that may have a particular need for a product
from an external source.
In these cases, the company doing the commission will likely have a brief
previously set by a client that they are currently employed by, so there is
less opportunity to negotiate the terms of the commission.

3. A commission brief will often have a very short time frame for the
production of the requested item, because that company may have need
for that product in a production of their own, which means that a
commissioned company would have to act efficiently in order to provide
the requested product to a desired standard.
Tender
A tender brief is one where the client who is issuing the brief will
advertise it, and various media production companies will give the client
proposals to work to that brief, and the client may choose a company to
hire for that brief.
A tender brief may be a useful brief for a relatively new production
company or individual, because such parties are less likely to be directly
sought out for hired work.
Co-Operative
A co-operative brief is one where two or more production companies are
involved in a singular project for a shared client. As implied by the name,
the concept of such a brief is for those companies to cooperate in the
making of the product.
Cooperating with another company to create a product contains a number
of opportunities for each group involved; the communication and
coordination between the companies can give each one new ideas for
their methods that they may not have had prior to the project, and
having a history of cooperating with particularly well-known companies
may give one more opportunities for cooperation and commission brief
work.
Competitive
A competitive brief is similar to a tender brief in that it is advertised to
multiple production companies, but is different in that it is immediately
available for all those companies to see and use, rather than having to
compete to acquire that brief. Instead, the production companies have
the opportunity to compete to provide a product that the client will be
interested in buying, and then pay the ‘winning’ company as if they had
been hired.
This type of brief may be particularly useful for new companies that have
a lot of young talent as employees, since they do not have to prove

4. themselves beforehand as being suitable for the job. If such a company
were to be successful in this endeavour, it may be a quick way to have a
large impact on their status in the industry.