2. Contractual Brief
Definition
A media company signs an agreement to complete a set task from another company, the media
company is given a set time and a set fee. The brief would explain either exact details the client
wishes to include in the product or some detail that you could expand on – thoroughly reading the
brief gives the media company an idea of what they are able to do and what they cannot.
Advantages
• The product is guaranteed to be completed by a certain time and date.
• Legally binding – contract, the client and the company both have to stick to the brief.
Disadvantages
• Breach of contract – not fulfilling the contract
• The company may not be able to show their full expertise to fulfil the product due to the client being too
demanding.
3. Formal Brief
Definition
This is a written document holding all the necessary information between the client and the company. Any
additional information from the client or the company can be discussed in the negotiated brief. This brief
is similar to the contractual one but not always legally binding.
Advantages
• No random add ons to the brief.
• Can be used in legal circumstances i.e. a court case because it is written on paper.
Disadvantages
• Not always legally binding
• Media company can’t express their experiences/capabilities.
4. Informal Brief
Definition
An informal brief may not be the actual documentation and can be agreed verbally instead of written. This can
be risky due to libel and legal obligations. There is no evidence of this brief if discussed verbally, making it
risky for the client and the company for copyright issues or set fees.
Advantages
• There is no quality-cost-time
• They could discuss exactly what they want.
Disadvantages
• No set deadlines so that the company could focus on other projects, the client becomes out of focus.
• The client could pay the company more than it needs to
5. Co-Operative Brief
Definition
This is where two or more companies are hired to work together on a project. The companies are expected to
work alongside each other completing separate tasks within the brief. If there is a disagreement between
the two companies they will have to sign a negotiated brief so that the project gets completed with a
compromise.
Advantages
• If there is a disagreement it is easily solved.
• The project will be completed quicker.
Disadvantages
• Disagreement as a whole – the idea that they can change some aspects simply because they don’t agree –
not professional.
• Trying to sort out a negotiated brief will take more time.
6. Negotiated Brief
Definition
This is very similar to the co-operative brief, it is linked to it when the two companies cannot compromise with
something in the brief – e.g. graphic designing, this is what they have to agree on. Through this
brief, certain aspects would be in changed in order to make each company happy and also the client, as
long as these changed aspects are within legal and ethical boundaries.
Advantages
• Disputes between the companies is settled quickly, effectively and easily.
• The client is involved – as long as they are happy with the companies ideas, they are settled.
Disadvantages
• There maybe further disputes, if one does not seem to want to compromise
• The companies may not get along – in competition.
7. Commission Brief
Definition
This is where a large media group hire a smaller or independent group to create something for the larger company. The
smaller company may not benefit from this as the larger media company could own what the smaller company
makes and sell it without any credit. In films, smaller media groups are hired to create the effects, this could be
beneficial. Actors and Actresses can also claim commission on DVD sales etc.
Advantages
• The smaller company still benefits from the product - once sales begin.
• The larger company benefits heavily from the product once sales begin.
Disadvantages
• If the product doesn’t sell, the larger company will be affected and will still have to pay.
• The commissioners – producers carry the risk of all the finances.
8. Tender Brief
Definition
The client publishes the brief with the desired product so that various media companies will see it and pitch for
it – they do this by creating an estimated budget and a proposal so that they will give it to the client. The
client then decides on which production company proposal was the best and offers the project to
whichever company they find more appealing.
Advantages
• They make sure that the product is really good quality.
• The client gets attention from various media companies which make come back and attempt to pitch for
the idea again.
Disadvantages
• The client could end up not getting what they bargained for as the company could lie.
9. Competition Brief
Definition
The brief is published and made available to all kinds of production companies – i.e. magazines, internet pages
etc. – each company completes the brief and sends the end product off to be judged by the client. The
winning completed project is then published – these are often free to enter competitions that
anyone, even the general public can submit to.
Advantages
• The client pays the winning company
• Free to enter
Disadvantages
• The client doesn’t have to pay the winning company depending on the quality of the product.
• Sometimes the judging is flawed as companies may get their friends to vote in large numbers, giving
him/her a bigger lead.
10. My Brief
Which type of brief is being used in the recipe card project? Explain your response.
This brief relates to the formal brief. There is no contract i.e. legally binding – getting paid. The Vegetarian
Society has published the necessary information to help us create the product. The brief is similar to the
one of contractual, being that both the client and the company have to formally agree on the ideas
presented. This is the only similarity to the contractual brief because the rest of the brief isn’t legally
binding. The brief has also been written on paper, a written agreement – this also makes it a definite
formal brief.
It could also be seen as a commission brief as it’s a larger company. The Vegetarian Society hiring us, as a small
media company to help design a product for them – however it does have more aspects of a formal brief.
11. Reading the Brief
Why is important to thoroughly read your brief?
Its important to read through the brief thoroughly to understand the nature and the demands of the brief. The
nature of the brief can express; what has been asked, what is expected, the time of the project and what
the ingredients/equipment are. The demands of the brief include the time constrains of the project and
personnel.
It is also important to read the brief because there can be problems and alterations that the company needs to
make, it can be addressed and sorted before starting the project as it can turn into a negotiated brief (if
the project has begun). This is better than an informal brief because the brief is written with a lot of
detailed information, whereas with the informal brief, necessary information could have gone
missing, restricting the company from making the product.
12. Reading the Brief
What is the nature of the Vegetarian Recipe Cards brief?
The Vegetarian Society has expressed the nature of the brief by listing these things:
• The images of food have to be of high quality
• There has to be a title on the front of the recipe card
• The ingredients and the methods have to be clearly shown
• Have to use recycled paper
• Has to be laminated – biodegradable
• Interesting and creative
• A design on the front and back of the recipe card
• A clear running theme
• The cultural food of one country – structured.
• Aimed at people wanting to become vegetarians or have been for years.
• Suitable ingredients for vegetarians and vegans
• Images can be sourced from elsewhere
What is the demand of the Vegetarian Recipe Cards brief?
The demands are very similar to the nature of the brief, it’s the things that are essential to complete the project. This includes that
of the; deadline, schedule, photographs, equipment, ingredients, models and experts etc. The demands of the brief tell us
exactly what we need to be doing, and that these are specific demands to keep the client happy.
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 with your client because you can gather a full understanding of
the specific demands . This gives us the chance to talk about my alterations or raise concerns
and offer ideas to make the brief needs better for everyone. It also gives us the opportunity
to show or expertise for example, the client might not know exactly what they are wanting to
design and they might not have expressed that in the brief. When negotiating the brief with
the client, means we can address the problems or change ideas within the brief, giving the
client the best.
Another important part of negotiating the brief is if the company doesn’t understand something
within the brief, it can be made clear by the client, this is one of advantages, as the company
can create a product that the client can be pleased with.
14. Negotiating a Brief
What are the advantages and disadvantages of employing discretion with a brief?
Some of the advantages of employing discretion within a brief are:
• it encourages creativity from our company
• It gives our company a chance to show our expertise – possibly entice other companies to
hire us
• There is a certain amount of freedom
Some of the disadvantages of employing discretion within a brief are:
• Could encourage the employee to become a little too creative
• They could go off on a tangent – not follow the brief
• They could get carried away and include meat in the product, when dealing with ingredients.
15. Negotiating a Brief
Are there any potential legal/ethical/regulatory issues with the Vegetarian Society brief’s
proposed product?
There are no legal or ethical or regulatory issues as such that are written in the brief, however
there are certain ethical issues that I would need to be aware of e.g. making sure that I do
not touch meat or include meat during the production of making the product and to make
sure that the ingredients are fully available for vegans as well as vegetarians. This way, the
Vegetarian Society are content with the product that we have made.
In many societies, controversy and debate have arisen over the ethics of eating animals. The
fundamental ethical objection to meat eating is that for most people living in the developed
world it is not necessary for their survival or health;hence, it is concluded, slaying animals
just because people like the taste of meat is wrong and morally unjustifiable. Reference :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_of_eating_meat
16. Negotiating a Brief
Amendments you have considered to;
The Product
I would have to consider the time scale changing with the product, depending on certain things. For
example, the cooked product might not be made in time. The other example would be that the images
might not look as professional as we expected them to be, and then turning to sourced images. We would
then have to alter the schedule to make sure that our work fits in and to fill any time gaps.
The Budget
Hypothetically, the only changes that would have to be made, is the client putting money into the project. The
location could also change suddenly, so the money might be not given back to us. As this project is self
financing, if the client demands something more i.e. ingredients, there would have to be a compromise
about how much money the client and the company should contribute to the project.
The Conditions
The terms and conditions are important within a brief. The conditions of the brief can be changed payment
wise. The client may be un/happy with the standard of the work that has been produced by the
company, so the payment agreed within the brief could increase or decrease. If the contract has been
signed and changes are wanting to be made, it can be difficult for the company to ask for more money.
17. Opportunities
What opportunities could this brief allow you to explore? Be specific with your responses. This
brief is quite different to others you have come across and offers lots of new experiences. Check
the unit overview to help you with this.
Self Development
For my self development this unit, I think that I will be more confident in expressing idea forms and allowing it to turn into
creativity for this project. I am not a very creative person so I am going to enjoy working with Aby, as we both have similar
ideas and can work together easily on projects. But for this project I am looking forward to being creative and confident to
help me get a better grade. Looking at the Vegetarian Society, opens up more windows for more experiments and to actually
research the specific demands for that target ‘audience’. I will also learn more skills in post production with Photoshop and
enhancing the skills that I already know.
Learning new skills
I think that I will learn a lot of skills during this project. I have chosen self finance for this project so it will be interesting to see
how I cope with any financial issues that arise during this project. I haven’t dealt with self financing before so I think that this
experience will help me with skills in this project and in the future. I will also learn new skills in Photoshop if I have to use a
new tool, although I will be using familiar software such as; Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word and Photoshop.
Multi-skilling
During production of the project I will be focusing on other tasks such as Page Layout as well as designing and making the Recipe
Cards. This is a tight time period so I think I will be able to cope multi tasking.
