The document provides information on different types of briefs that can be used for projects. It defines and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of contractual, formal, informal, cooperative, negotiated, commission, tender, competition, and my brief. Key details include that contractual briefs legally bind parties, formal briefs are written, informal briefs are verbal, cooperative briefs involve multiple agents, negotiated briefs resolve disputes, commission briefs involve independent workers, and competition briefs involve public submissions for a client to choose from. The document aims to inform about different briefing options and considerations.

1. WORKING TO A
BRIEF
LO1
Name Jamie Kessel

2. CONTRACTUAL BRIEF
Definition
A brief in which a contract is signed, binding both parties involved legally to
the project. Time, specific requirements etc. are all set in stone with this
kind of brief, meaning that it’s often much more précised and serious than
other types of brief.
Advantages
Advantages of this kind of brief include the fact that the client can give a full
idea of exactly what they want right from the beginning, and can feel
assured in the fact that they’re going to get what was required from the
project due to being legally protected. For the person actually doing the
work, they have the advantage of knowing exactly what the client wants,
allowing them to have a more focused work path in which they can simply
follow the client’s instructions and generally have to worry less about their
own ability to generate ideas.
Disadvantages
Disadvantages include the fact that once the contract is set in stone, it can
often get complicated to try and change things up and exchange new ideas,
meaning that it’s a lot less flexible for both parties involved and generally
restricts the flow of idea generation. On top of this, the person or
organisation taking on the work has to be extremely careful not to get into
legal trouble due to the contract binding them to the project, meaning that
they have to make sure to meet strictly meet time requirements etc.

3. FORMAL BRIEF
Definition
Formal briefs are briefs written in word or print, rather than being of a verbal
nature. These are the types of briefs often used for more serious projects,
and are commonly used by organisations undergoing larger scale projects.
The breifs entail what is needed from the project and the specific
requirements, and in many cases are also formal briefs at the same time,
meaning that contracts must be signed.
Advantages
All the information of the brief is written down, making it easier to refer back
to for enquiries etc. Another potential advantage is the fact that you don’t
have to meet face to face to discuss this kind of brief, meaning that it can
be more efficient.
Disadvantages
Dissadvatnages include the fact that this kind of brief is often less relaxed
and doesn’t leave any room for swithching things up for the agent (making
them more constrained in terms of how they can reflect their own style on
their work). There is also the dissadvantage of the fact that you aren’t able
to ask your client questions in the same way you’d be able to (the face to
face interactions are not present).

4. INFORMAL BRIEF
Definition
These kind of briefs are verbal briefs (the opposite of a formal brief). They often involve
no contracts, making them not contractual. To add to this, they’re often more relaxed
in nature (hence the name), and smaller organisations such as people looking for
some quick work are more likely to use them rather than larger national scale
organisations.
Advantages
A main advantage to these is simply the fact that they are more relaxed for the agent,
and put them in a position in which they can comfortably talk and get to know their
client. With this comes the advantage of being able to get a better understanding of
exactly what the client wants, and you can ask your client questions in relation to the
project. This client agent bond is often extremely beneficial to the flow of a project.
Disadvantages
The main disadvantage Is the fact that these kind of briefs (due to not being
contractual or formal) mean that the client doesn’t get the sense of security that they
do with formal briefs, meaning that they are not legally covered if their agent chooses
to fail them ore abort the project all together. For the agent, a a big disadvantage is
not being able to go back and reference the breif whilst doing work, meaning that
they have to make sure they remember the details or write notes while being briefed.
Informal briefs are also often a lot less organised and aren’t as specific in regards to
allocated time or budget for example, which can lead to less coordinated work

5. CO-OPERATIVE BRIEF
Definition
This is a form of brief in which multiple agents are hired to work harmoniously on
a task. This could be two large companies or two freelance workers, but they
must work hand in hand to complete the task, and the brief will set out to
coordinate the two parties involved and instruct them on how to work together in
order to achieve the final goal.
Advantages
The main advantage is of course the fact that when you have two people working
on a project you are getting the skillsets of both parties involved, and when
combined this can produce impressive results that highlight both party’s skills in
order to create something better than either would be able to achieve
Individually. Similarly, both parties involved can support one another in the event
of one party needing help, allowing for a more solid project. Things will often be
achieved much faster with more than one person working on the project, making
it more time efficient if the client feels that the project needs completing quickly.
Disadvantages
A big disadvantage is the potential for the two parties involved having disputes in
regards to the project. Often they might have opposing ideas on what is best for
the project, meaning that the client then has to produce a negotiated brief in
which both ideas can reach a new compromised idea. Another disadvantage is
that the client will end up having to pay more money, due to paying more than
one company or person to do the work.

6. NEGOTIATED BRIEF
Definition
This is a form of brief that occurs when a cooperative brief based project encounters
the issue of multiple agents or workers having clashing views on how to take the
project forwards, or on a particular idea. This could be anything from an argument
over aesthetics to a dispute over how to lay out a piece of text. The purpose of the
negotiated brief is to then create a compromised brief that allows both workers and
the client to move on with the project, dealing with the dispute and keeping
everyone satisfied.
Advantages
Advantages of this kind of brief include the fact that it keeps all parties involved with
the project satisfied, and allows for it to move on by essentially stomping out the
problem and reaching a compromise. Another advantage is that it essentially places
the client in control of the dispute, and allows them to police it as they see fit for the
situation.
Disadvantages
The main disadvantage is of course the fact that despite sounding great, it won’t
always work out as expected. Many times, one of the agents or workers will feel that

7. COMMISSION BRIEF
Definition
This is the kind of brief in which a company commissions an independent worker (often
freelance) to create a certain piece of work for them. This kind of brief doesn’t involve a
client directly, and kind of puts the larger company in the shoes of the client. The
company may then use the commissioned work for a client, or for a project of their own.
With this kind of brief, the worker being commissioned will sell their work, or may receive
shares in the profits.
Advantages
An advanatage of this is that it can be greatly beneficial for all parties involved. One way
that this is true is that the worker or independent being comissioned to do the work will
often have a niche skillset specific to the task in hand, meaning that the larger
organisation will receive good quality work. On the other end, the independent will
usually receive a large and fair paycheck from the organisation they’re working for due to
the organisation often being fairly large with a large budget to spend on comissions in
comparison to other forms of client.
Disadvantages
A potential dissadvantage is the fact that the independent (if the method of pay is based
on revenue of the work created) are at risk of not making money if the work they produce
isn’t to a high enough standard. Another potential dissadvatnage is that the large
company who hire the indepndant, due to having lots of money and power in comparison,
potentially have the oppurunity to unfairly maniplulate the independent and make them
work overly hard for their pay (or they’ll just replace them with another independent

8. TENDER BRIEF
Definition
This is when a client who wants something being made or achieved, publishes via trade press,
newspaper adverts etc. an advert for what work they need doing. Companies and freelance workers will
then get back to them and contact them with briefs entailing what they would be able to do for the
client and how they’d go about achieving it. The client then can pick between the different briefs and
make further arrangements with a chosen company.
Advantages
Advantages of this kind of brief include the fact that the client can potentially get a nice selection of
companies and their briefs to choose from, meaning that they have multiple options before moving
forwards with a project. To add to this, publishing to receive tender briefs in this way allow for a client
to get responses from people outside of their own contact network, and potentially even people from
other countries. Another advantage for the client is knowing that whoever they choose to take on the
project will work exactly how they want them to and there won’t be as much unnecessary negotiation
done with the company prior to the production actually starting.
Disadvantages
A key disadvantage to this is the fact that publishing to reach out to companies can be an expensive
thing to do and often requires money in order to promote and advertise efficiently. On top of this, a
client can’t always be sure their publishing will successfully gain responses from companies, if any
companies at all, and in this way it can be an unreliable type of brief to use. Another disadvantage is
that unlike in an informal brief, you don’t meet the person you’re hiring for the job face to face, giving
you less of a sense of whether or not they’ll be fitting for the project.

9. COMPETITION BRIEF
Definition
This is a form of brief in which a client releases a brief publically for any company or worker to use, and
then takes in projects from anyone who chooses to take on the brief, and judges which they want to use
by analysing which work is best or most appropriate for the brief given. The chosen person or
company’s work is then the person who receives payment or a reward from the client. This is often done
in a competional manner in which anyone who wants to can participate.
Advantages
This kind of brief really encourages creativity and a diverse set of work due to people/companies feeling
that they are in competition with one another, thus driving the standard of work up to a higher level. As
well as this, it’s almost a more fun and light hearted aproch to a project due to the element of
competition involved in it, especially when compared to something like a formal brief. For the client,
this is a great kind of brief to get involved in, because they’re essentially getting to pick and choose
between multiple pieces of work whilst at the same time only paying for one.
Disadvantages
A big disadvantage of this kind of brief is for the people/companies participating, there’s a high risk that
all their time and effort won’t pay off at all if the client doesn’t select their work as the ‘winner’ of the
competition. On top of this, the client then has the ability to leach and take bits of certain ideas from
entries that haven’t ‘won’, without paying them a thing, leading to some ethical problems and lack of
fairness for the persons involved. A potential problem for the clients themselves is that without the
right means of promotion and funding, there may be no way of distributing their brief to an adequate
and capable audience, meaning that entries might be to a lower standard.

10. MY BRIEF
My client will use a mixture of formal and informal briefs for my
project. The reason for this is due to the fact that both of these forms
of briefs have advantages, so it makes a lot of sense to aim to
combine both in order to get the best client-agent communication
and interaction. What I mean by this is that I’ll get them to fill me in a
written formal brief with information which I can constantly refer back
to without needing to ask them anything directly, but as well as this
I’ll also aim to go in for chats and ask questions in order to get a
more personal idea of what my client wants from me, and to
exchange potential ideas back and fourth with them (informal). As
well as this, It won’t be a contractual brief due to the nature of the
project and it not being paid work. This means I won’t be legally
bound to complete the work for my client. In some senses, the brief
will be negotiated due to me being able to put forward ideas freely
with my client, and because of my client giving me some scope to
express my own creativity with the project, meaning that I’ll have
some level of input into the brief (to a degree). Having said this, it
won’t be the classic ‘negotiated’ style of brief, just a more laid back
type in which I can contribute and the client can work with some of

11. READING THE BRIEF
Why is important to thoroughly read your brief?
It’s important to read through and check your brief thoroughly in order
to gain a completely well rounded understanding of what your client is
proposing or asking of you. By noting the details of what needs to be
done, such as particular colours to use, fonts and regulations set down
by your client, you can gain an in depth understanding of exactly what
is needed in order to ensure success within the project. There may be
little yet important details that are lost amongst the production if not
enough care is taken by me to thoroughly read through, and this in
turn would result in my client not being satisfied (which in an industry
would result in me not getting my pay in many cases). In short, by
thoroughly reading through my brief, I’m able to fully understand the
nature an demand of the project.

12. READING THE BRIEF
What is the nature and demand of your client brief?
The nature of my project is to create pieces of work with the aim of
helping brand promotion, but not by completely overhauling the
aesthetic, but instead simply refining it and making it a bit less dull.
The nature of my project is to create 3 graphic based pieces, one of
which will be a menu, and the other 2 social media banners for use on
Facebook and Twitter. The project is of a digital nature rather than
being drawing based, and the final product needs to be visually similar
to previous graphics created by other designers for the client, including
the same colours, fonts and choice of language.
The demand of the project is pretty well balanced in terms of matching
what I’m capable of without being too difficult or too easy. In terms of
time constraints, I’ve got 2 weeks of production to move forward with.
I’ve got constraint on what I can and can’t use due to my brief
including a style sheet in which I must strictly obey. Other than the
style sheet and time limit, I’m not particularly constrained in terms of
what I can and can’t do with the project or how I go about achieving it.
I’ve not been told to use specific software, or to get certain people to
help me do it.

13. NEGOTIATING A BRIEF
Why is it important to discuss the brief with your client prior to
production?
It is important that you discuss the brief with your client for the primary
reason of making sure that you can make sure you have a completely
clear understanding of everything and have not misinterpreted any of
the information the client’s given you via the brief. This helps because
discussing allows for questions to be answered rather than reading,
which doesn’t allow for responses. As well as this, if after reading the
brief, I feel that there are any considerations to be made in regards to
legal or ethical issues, for example if he wanted me to use a particular
image but I discovered it was copyrighted by someone else, I’d be able
to address the issue with my client and work around the issue. If there
were any other issues with the brief that I really strongly felt were poor
or wouldn’t work well, I could also consult my client about these when
negotiating the brief, but generally this isn’t a great idea (‘the client is
always right’ is a general rule to follow).

14. NEGOTIATING A BRIEF
What are the advantages and disadvantages of employing discretion
with a brief?
Advantages of employing discretion when it comes to a brief include the
fact that It’ll allow more flexibility for the work I actually produce, and
mean that it’s not as constrained. This in turn allows for me to show
off my creativity and own ideas a bit more, and to bring some of my
own talent to the table. As well as this, it’ll allow me to surprise my
client, and produce slight variations on pieces of work in which I can
show my client and give them some choices. In terms of for my own
benefit, I’ll find it a bit more of an entertaining project if there’s
discretion involved with how I interpret the brief, and ultimately this
can lead to better work, as I generally find it easier to put effort to
something I actually enjoy in comparison to something that bores me
and is tedious to undertake.
The main disadvantage however, is simply the fact that it’s a lot less of
a secure project if I’m allowed to employ discretion in regards to the
brief. What I mean by this is that I could end up producing work that
strays to far from the original idea and ultimately isn’t what my client
actually wanted. I can ensure this doesn’t happen however by just
ensuring carefulness at all times and constantly referring back to the
brief.

15. NEGOTIATING A BRIEF
Are there any potential legal/ethical/regulatory issues with the brief’s
proposed product?

16. NEGOTIATING A BRIEF
Amendments you have considered to:
The Product
The Budget
The Conditions

17. OPPORTUNITIES
What opportunities could this brief allow you to explore?
Self Development
Learning new skills

18. OPPORTUNITIES
Multi-skilling
Contributing to a project