The document discusses different types of briefs that can be used when a company is hired to complete a project. It defines each type of brief and outlines their key advantages and disadvantages. The main types discussed are contractual, formal, informal, cooperative, negotiated, commission, tender, competition, and my brief. The document determines that the recipe card project brief is a formal brief, as it provides the necessary information to complete the project and allows for additional details to be negotiated with the client.

1. Working to a Brief
LO1

2. Contractual Brief
Definition:
A contractual brief is a brief that a company enters with a specific task and guidelines, a time limit
and fee all set in writing by the client. It is very important for the company to stick to the
agreement, if they fail to do so it can result to a breech of contract and they could face legal action
or more commonly, not get paid.
Advantages
• You know what you have to do. It is very step by step organised. Just like the brief we were
given with our recipe cards, it tells you want we need to do to complete it to their standards. If
anything is missed off and not put on then they will send it back until it is complete or not pay
the company.
• There is a set payment at the end of the contract as long as you have completed everything
they have asked for. If not they will most likely not pay you.
• A contractual brief must include the commercial general liability insurance (CGL) which is
issued to business organizations to protect them against liability claims for bodily injury and
property damage and advertising and personal injury liability. This is advantage incase
anything goes wrong.
Disadvantages
• If you do not read the contract correctly you could be signing something you cannot do or
agree with.
• The fixed time could be a problem and could cost you your payment if it is not handed in on
time.
• If the company feels there needs to be changes it will not fit to the standards asked for, they
could face legal action, loss of money and a bad reputation.

3. Definition:
A formal brief is when the client provides the company with a brief that simply
establishes way they want the product to look like/do. The brief only contains the
necessary information needed to complete the project e.g. end and start date. Any
additional information will need to be gained during negotiations with the client. Like
the contractual brief, the parties involved will formally agree on the project, however a
formal brief is not always legally binding.
Advantages:
• It is relaxed and easy to understand.
• This type of brief means that the client is open to any ideas or issues that could be
raised by the company that is employed. This makes the work quite creative for the
company as there is always time for negotiation.
Disadvantages:
• The company may feel that the client has not offered enough information, in the brief,
for them to complete the product to the standard that the client wishes.
• Also the fact that the brief is not always legally binding could bring up problems within
the project with things such as financial issues or a breech of contract. They will have to
sort these problems out themselves, sometimes with no legal help, this can cause
arguments and a hard situation to sort out.
Formal Brief

4. Informal Brief
Definition:
This is usual a verbal contract. The client and the employer discuss the requirements for the
product they will be making and ultimately agree upon the project. Nothing is written down which
can be risky if anything is changed. An informal brief is good for something like photography for a
wedding of someone you know, but when it gets to bigger companies, it can be risky.
Advantages
• There is lots of verbal communication so if something cannot be done or something needs
changing, then it is easy to get hold of the client and discuss problems and outcomes.
• With lots of detailed communication the employer should be able to perform at their best and
complete the project to the standards asked for.
• For example I once did the photography for a family friend, I was told what pictures they
wanted and what I needed to do. There was no signing any forms, I was paid when I gave them
their images.
Disadvantages
• There is not a written document or contract to prove the employment and if the client fails to
pay the employer there is no legal action that can be won. You may have to take care and
make sure you have full contact with the client.
• Schedules may be confusing for both parties as nothing is written down to organise everyone.
They could change at last minute too and nothing could stop the client changing things they
want doing. It could cause time schedules to shorten and stress could build.

5. Definition:
This is when two or more production companies are hired to work on a specific brief. That
means that the companies have to work together in order to complete the project. However
if the two companies have a disagreement a negotiated brief would have to be submitted to
please both companies
Advantages:
• This type of brief means that there can be more perspectives to creating the product
needed by the client and therefore means that the brief can be understood more than if
there were only one company working on the project.
• It halves the amount of work that needs to be done, although this brief would be for a
large work share.
• The other company may be stronger in an area that you are not in broadening skills in
both departments. For example when I worked with a partner during the recipe cards
task I felt that we both had strengths in different parts and together we were able to
achieve a good piece of work together.
Disadvantages:
• This type of brief is more prone to conflict and disagreements. This would be caused by
the ideas given to the companies by the client.
• The profits are shared to make it equal but sometimes you could be coming out with
less money than intended.
Co-Operative Brief

6. Negotiated Brief
Definition:
A negotiated brief will be used if a co-operative brief have any issues between themselves
about anything in the original brief that they need to discuss or change. Negotiations to the
brief can be changed in order to suit everyone. This can include changing the appearance or
contents of the product. Although it is verbally discussed it is still written down in the
contract.
Advantages
• The brief is open to suggestions throughout, therefore everyone from both companies
and the client can offer suggestions to make the product better and find a better
schedule so things can be done to the best of their abilities.
• There is lots of verbal communication so things can be changed if anything needs to be.
Disadvantages
• Negations can take time and it can delay the product.
• If the companies do not get on it can cause conflict or loss of business.

7. Definition:
A commission brief is where a large media company will employ an other independent
media company to create and produce the product for them, and after the product has
been made the larger company may go on to use the product for an external client who will
pay the independent company for making the product and they could even get a cut.
Advantages:
•This type of brief means that larger companies do not have to do all of the hard work and
they can give opportunities to smaller independent companies.
•They can sub-contract the work that is set in the brief out to another company and each
company will both receive money for the work they have contributed.
Disadvantages:
•In this brief there is two different companies working on a project and this could cause
conflict and disagreements or confusion.
•The brief is not negotiated with the clients so the final product may not be to the client’s
standards.
Commission Brief

8. Tender Brief
Definition:
A tender brief is when a client will advertise their brief and a production team will build a
proposal that they will pitch to different clients so the clients will then get the chance to
choose the proposal that they think best suits their brief and offers the job to that production
company.
Advantages
• Clients can look at different proposals and ideas to make their product better to achieve
the most successful product. We do this when we pitch ideas and people give us
feedback on our work. We did this with recipe cards and graphic narrative.
Disadvantages
• If a company’s pitch is turned down by a client this can set them back in business, it is
very hard to gain work.
• If a client thinks they will have their proposal accepted and declines any further work
they may loose business because it is not certain they will get the job.
• A client may gather and hear all these proposals but decide not to go down this brief
anymore and use some ideas they have heard from clients.

9. Competition Brief
Definition:
A brief is made to all participating production companies. It can sometimes been seen as a
free competition as each production company will complete the brief and the client can then
judge which company has the best project. The client has to pay for the winning company.
Advantages:
• The client only has to pay the one winning production company, but sometimes will not
have to pay them at all, a prize is sometimes given, this can depend on what
competition it is. For example if it is a photography competition the prize could be a cash
or equipment prize, or just to have their work displayed somewhere.
• They have multiple companies producing a product meaning that they have a larger
choice of products and can choose the one that they believe will be the most successful.
• Competitions are usually free to enter and can be found online or locally.
Disadvantages:
• The companies that are turned down by the client may become disheartened as they
have missed out on potential work and money.

10. My Brief
Which type of brief is being used in the recipe card project? Explain your response.
The brief we have been given to work from is a formal brief. This is when a client
provides a company with a brief that simply establishes the product. It contains
the necessary information needed for the project. This type of brief is easy to
understand and if we need additional information we will be able to gain this with
negotiating with the client. Although we personally do not have much contact with
the employer in a real situation they would. Before the contract is signed all
problems would be sorted.
The things that show that the brief is a formal brief is the way it formally tells you,
in the written document, a simple outline of what the company wants from you in
the final product, for example it informs you on how many cards need to be
printed, the materials and they want a set of 8 different recipes. It was easy to
understand and read so we knew what we needed to include to make a successful
end product. We were able to choose our idea from multiple ideas we had thought
about. This shows the brief is not set like a contractual brief.

11. Reading the Brief
Why is important to thoroughly read your brief?
Ensuring you read the brief thoroughly will allow you to completely understand
what you have been asked to do. This allows you to understand the nature and the
demand too. The nature is what has been asked of you, what the final product is
to be expected for example in the brief given to me for recipe cards we were told
they wanted a set of 8 different vegetarian recipes. This is the nature of the brief.
The demand is the time schedule and man power needed. So in the same brief we
were told that the man power of the card needed to be sturdy and wipe-clean.
Hypothetically if you did not read any brief you would not know the details in
which the client wanted their product produced to and if a time schedule was not
possible but you had already signed the brief you would be breeching the contract
and could face legal actions or not get paid for your work. Things like this need to
be negotiated before signing so both parties know what is capable.

12. Reading the Brief
What is the nature of the Vegetarian Recipe Cards brief?
The nature of this brief is to provide eight creative designs for a set of vegetarian
recipe cards, that needs to include a recipe that is suitable for vegetarians and a
image of the food. Eight recipe cards have been asked to be produced and they
have to be recognised as a set. This could be done by a theme based on certain
country/culture or an specific age range. The client has asked for the to be a design
on both the front and back of the recipe card.
What is the demand of the Vegetarian Recipe Cards brief?
The demands that has been given through the brief is to use 100% recycled paper
and vegetable inks when producing the product. The client usually uses 350gsm
paper stock so we will be sure to provide them with this as it keeps in theme with
their other products. The client has also stated that they would like 3,500 copies of
the product.

13. Negotiating a Brief
Why is it important to discuss the brief with your client prior to production?
It is important to discuss the brief when you meet your client so you are able to
discuss changes and things you are not happy with. It is also a good opportunity
for any issues to be raised, it also offers any ideas that you have to contribute to
the project. You can then begin to ‘green light’ any ideas that you think can work
with in the future. If you complete the product with your own ideas that you have
not negotiated with the client you may not get paid if you have not spoken to
them about it first and if you have not worked to the guidelines within the brief
that your client has provided.
For example a company wants to place their logo on hoodies but in summer so
hoodies wont be sold as much. The company could consider putting them on t-
shirts so they would sell more in the season. This will be negotiated with the client
and employer.

14. Negotiating a Brief
What are the advantages and disadvantages of employing discretion with a brief?
• The advantages of negotiating is so a positive digression would happen making the
brief more flexible between you and the client. This would mean that you would
be able to discuss freely different ideas that you have for the client and they will
be able to accept or decline them without any hesitation. You will also be able to
discuss if anything is not capable and discuss different ideas to improve the final
product.
• The disadvantages would be that the brief could be seen as being quite flakey with
the respect that certain aspects may not be set in stone. The client could get
annoyed with all the suggestions and decide to choose a different company that
will do what they ask them to.

15. Negotiating a Brief
Are there any potential legal/ethical/regulatory issues with the Vegetarian Society
brief’s proposed product?
If we use stock images rather than our own we will have to keep within the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. because it is being used for commercial
use we will need to get permission by the owner of the image. We would do this
by asking or paying the owner to use their image. If you did not do this you would
be breaking the act and would be prosecuted.
These recipe cards could be classed as advertising for the Vegetarian Society or the
ingredients on there so it will need to fit into the regulatory rules of the
Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). It cannot be racist, sexist etc. People can
complain and et the recipe cards removed.
To do with the brief there may be some issues with keeping within the ecological
theme of the product if it comes to laminating the product. Because the recipe
cards will be used in a kitchen by the audience, it would be good for the cards to
be laminated, however this would then make the product non biodegradable and
it will not fit the brief and product asked for and it is not 100% recycled material
like the client has asked for. This is an issue that will need to be discussed when
designing the product. We also need to make sure all ingredients are suitable for
vegetarians.

16. Negotiating a Brief
Amendments you have considered to;
The Product
After reading the brief there may be some things that need to be changed such as an overly
ambitious deadlines, time schedules and ideas to make the product successful. The material
used needs to be thought of because of the 100% recycled material, the cost could be a
problem. Because it is a formal brief we have the opportunity to be creative with the idea.
This is an advantage of this type of brief.
The Budget
Always make sure there is enough finance supplied to the project in order to complete it.
Amendments to the project may need to be considered if there isn't. If this was the case the
budget of the project would need to be increased or finding other suppliers for the project
that charge less so the budget will decrease.
The Conditions
If the project takes longer than expected and it is already written in the contract you will
need to discuss this with the client. After the contract is signed, this might be difficult. Make
sure negotiation takes place before the project starts with your client. We have set out
contingency time in case anything goes wrong. This should be discussed with the client
before signing a contract.

17. Opportunities
What opportunities could this brief allow you to explore?
Self Development
The brief will be a good opportunity to find tasks that you are particularly good at. There may be
certain aspects that will include us learning new skills. This will build our self development as we
will be practicing ones we already know and learning new important and helpful skills that we can
use later in life too.
Learning New Skills
New skills will be learnt during this course. I have already gained more experience on Photoshop
and expanded my knowledge greatly. But during this project I will be learning how to use other
Adobe programmes such as In Design, this will be helpful to create the final product as well as
other experiences that I will achieve in life. More research techniques will be learnt throughout this
project that I can carry onto the next year of the course.
Multi-Skilling
There will only be two of us working on this project therefore we do not have a large production
team, so we will both need to help in multiple areas showing our skills. The only way we will be
able to complete this project by the deadline will be if we multi-skill in areas allocated to us, these
areas will be: the designer, copywriter, photographer etc.
Contributing to a brief
Going through the brief we have come to the conclusion that mind maps and mood boards will help
generate ideas that we can put towards the product but we need to stick to the brief set by the
client. Our ideas will be generated as we research and explore existing products, this all needs to be
recorded.