Working to a Brief LO1

Contractual BriefDefinition A contractual brief is a brief that a media company enters with a specific task and specific guidelines, a time limit and fee set in writing. It is important for the company to stick to the agreement, if they fail to do so it can result to breech of contract they could face legal action or you could not get paid.

Advantages• You know what you have to do and a set fee at the end. It is organised.• The brief will be detailed to a specific product so the company knows what they are doing.

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 fee if it is not handing in on time.• If the company feels there needs to be changes it will not fit to the standards asked for and

they could face legal action, loss of money and a bad reputation.

Formal BriefDefinition This is when a client provides a media company with a brief that simply

establishes the product they wan to be brief only contains the necessary information needed to complete the project. 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 very relaxed and very easy to understand. • This type of brief means that the client is open to any ideas or issues if there are any that

could be raised by the media company that is employed, this makes the work quite creative for the media company, there is always room for negotiation.

Disadvantages: • The media company may feel that the client has not offered enough information 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.

Informal BriefDefinition 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 a small photography for a wedding of someone you know but bigger companies it can be risky.

Advantages• Lots of verbal communication • With lots of detailed communication the employer should be able to perform at their best

and complete the project to the standards asked for.

Disadvantages• There is not 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.• Schedules may be confusing for both parties as nothing is written down to organise everyone.

Co-Operative BriefDefinition: This is when two or more production companies are hired to work on a specific

brief. That mean that the companies then 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 appease 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 more understood than if there were only one company working on the project.

Disadvantages: • This type of brief is more prone to conflict and disagreements. This would be caused by the

ideas given to the media companies by the client.

Negotiated BriefDefinition A negotiated brief will be used if a co-operative brief given to the two or more media companies that are helping to compete the project have any issues between themselves about anything in the brief that they need to change or discuss. Negotiations to the brief can be changed in order to suite each party. This can include changing the appearance of the product or changing the products content. Although it is verbally discussed it is still written down in the contract.

Advantages• The brief is open to suggestions therefore it can fit in abetter schedule and the product can

be made better if the employers think so.• Lots of verbal communication.

Disadvantages• Negations can take time and it can delay the product• If the parties do not get on it can cause conflict or loss of business.

Commission BriefDefinition: This 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 media 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. 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 they are two different companies working on a project and this could cause

conflict and disagreements, but because the brief is not negotiated with the client, the product made may not be to the client’s standards.

Tender BriefDefinition 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.

Disadvantages• If a companies pitch is turned down by a client this can set them back in business, it is very

hard to gain work.• Thinking a client would accept their proposal and if they decline any other work they were

offered it could have effect on business.

Competition BriefDefinition: A brief is made to all participating production companies. It can be 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. • 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.

Disadvantages:

• The companies that are turned down by the client may become disheartened as they have missed out on potential work and money.

My BriefWhich type of brief is being used in the recipe card project? Explain your response.

The brief we will be using is a formal brief. This is when a client provides a media company with a brief that simply establishes the product. It contains the necessary information needed for the project. We are using this brief because it is very relaxed and easy to understand. If we need additional information we will be able to gain this with negotiating with the client. Because it is a creative project this brief means that the client is open to ideas and if there is any issues they can be raised by the media company. 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 tells us how many cards need to be printed and a set of 8 different recipes on the cards need to be printed. The material needed to be used has also been informed.

Reading the BriefWhy is important to thoroughly read your brief?

Ensuring you read the brief thoroughly will allow you to completely understand what you have been asked. 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 etc. and the demand is the time schedule and man power needed. Hypothetically if we did not read the brief we would not know the details in which the client wanted their product produced to and if a time schedule was not possible but you signed the brief you would be breeching the contract and could face legal actions or not get paid for your work.

Reading the BriefWhat is the nature of the Vegetarian Recipe Cards brief?

The nature of this brief is to provide some creative designs for a set of vegetarian recipe cards that will include a recipe that is suitable for vegetarians and a photograph of the food. Eight cards have been asked to be produced and they have to be recognised as a set, they could be connected by a theme based on certain country/culture or an specific age range. The client has asked for there 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.

Negotiating a BriefWhy 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 offer any ideas that you have to maybe added 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.

Negotiating a BriefWhat are the advantages and disadvantages of employing discretion with a brief?

When negotiating a brief the advantages of this are a positive digression within a brief would make 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 hostility. 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.

Negotiating a BriefAre there any potential legal/ethical/regulatory issues with the Vegetarian Society brief’s

proposed product?

There are not any legal problems within this brief, however 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 customers, 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.

Negotiating a BriefAmendments you have considered to;The Product

After reading the brief there may be some things that will need to be changed such as any overly ambitious deadlines, time schedules and scopes to make the product the best it can be. The material used needs to be thought of because of the 100% recycled material, the cost could be a problem.

The BudgetAlways 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 the scope of the project will need to be decreased.

The ConditionsIf the project took longer than what was produced in the contract you may need to discuss this with the client to the prospects to having to increase your pay. After the contract is signed, this might be difficult. Make sure negotiation takes place with your client before your project starts.

OpportunitiesWhat opportunities could this brief allow you to explore? Be specific with your responses. Self Development

The brief will be a good opportunity to find tasks that particularly good at, there may be certain aspects that may 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.

Learning New SkillsThere could be such things as designing cards, this may mean we need to use new equipment and strategies. This will teach use new skills and strengthen our abilities.

Multi-SkillingWe will not have a large production team we will need to allocate ourselves between the both of us. We will have to multi-skill to complete parts of the project and complete it by the deadline.

Contributing to a briefGoing 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.