Unit 5: Task 1

Explaining a Brief
Jack Overton

What is a brief?
Briefs are very important in everyday lives. There are many different types of briefs
and I will go through them below. I will cover Contractual, formal, negotiated,
commission and various other methods that are used in a project environment based
on my conducted research.

Types of brief
Contractual Brief
A contractual brief is a legal document which is strictly between an employee and a
client. The contractual brief outlines the duties and requirements expected to be
followed and how a company schemes and organises its work. The document
explains the expectations of the client, how much the employee will receive for the
stated objective, and what legal actions will be taken in place if either the employee
or other party was to break any of the agreements in the breach of contract.
Advantages: An advantage is that it gives the company an idea of what the client
wants them to achieve, whilst also initiating a stable price range, where the client and
the employer will agree on a set income with the employer through the contractual
brief.
Disadvantages: A disadvantage is that the client may require a heavy workload from
the employer, which will put a strain upon them, and with advertising, a lot of
creativity is required, and this is likely to be hindered if the client desires to receive
written work, as opposed to graphical designs.
Example: An example of a contractual brief is when a client wanted to sell something
on the television as an advertisement, and the employee would be the production
crew willing to create the advertisement.
Formal Brief
A formal brief is a written document which includes specific detailed information about
the goals the client wants the company to achieve. This type of brief usually is
straightforward to the point as it refrains from containing any type of unnecessary
detail or unwanted information. The target for this brief is generally aimed at a group
of people, or a business company however, it is not always classified as a legal
document.
Advantages: An advantage is that as the document itself is clear, as well as concise,
as it lacks in any form of complexity, refraining from including extended legal terms
within its theses. Also, as it is not always a legal-binding document, the company can
express their opinions, as well as having the ability to work around the contract.

Disadvantages: A disadvantage is that the contract is very general, as opposed to

the haphazard structure of a regular contract, which is explained in a lot more detail.
The employer as well as the client, may disagree on the terms of each other's
decisions, and opinions which are listed in the contract.
Example: An example of a formal brief is a college tutor assigning a task for his or
her students for them to complete.

Informal Brief
An informal brief is known to be a more verbal agreement which happens to be less
professional that of the traditional brief as nothing is official or in writing. If there was
ever one side of the party who would try to include the court, their chance of
successfully winning would be low as it has not been officially signed for and there
may be no actual recording of what's been agreed on.
Advantages: A advantage is that there is no real guideline to the brief, it is very free,
and the employer will be allowed to manoeuvre and influence their own opinions into
the document, before the client finalises it.
Disadvantages: A disadvantage would be that the expectations proclaimed by the
client may interfere with the ethos of the employer, who may not want to perform a
task that involves a heavy workload, which may disinterest the client into giving
them work, and they may look elsewhere for an individual to complete their project.
Example: For example, you asked your colleague at your workplace to design a
banner to hang outside a local library to advertise a school play

Co-operative Brief
This type of brief contains two or more production companies who are hired by clients
to operate upon a set brief which should be completed in unison on a team basis.
Once the brief has been received, they can proceed to work together to produce the
product however, if there is a disagreement or conflict in ideas, there has to be some
type of negotiated brief in order to resolve the issues. The project also has to be
completed before a specific deadline else the client may be dissatisfied meaning no
future employment.
Advantages: An advantage of working as a team is that it helps to build a sense of
community within the workplace, whilst adding a social side to it as well, which
inevitably means that a good form of communication will be featured between the
team members. Also, having several people work on a project means that a variety of
different ideas will be circulated, which will be beneficial in completing the project.
Disadvantages: A disadvantage could be that the individuals who are working in the
team may disagree with others which will inevitably cause the downfall of the project,
whilst hindering the growth of it significantly, due to the conflicting views of the
individuals involved over the brief.
Example: This is used famously in film production, for example. A producer may hire
Lionsgate to produce the film and hire Technicolor professionals to digitally grade the
 film. Both parties will have to work together in order to achieve the producer/director's
vision.

Negotiated Brief
This is when the client and the employer find a compromise upon the brief of the
project which usually includes the final ideas of both the employer and the client. The
key point to remember is how important it is that the client and employer or company
both agree on the brief else it may create inevitable problems.
Advantages: An advantage to this type of brief is that it brings the ideas of the client
and employer together, and merges them into one, creating a brief that is suitable for
both the employer, as well as the client, which means that they are less likely to
quarrel in the future over the terms of the legal agreement.
Disadvantages: A disadvantage is that when the client and the employer ‘negotiate’
their brief, they may come to a disagreement, that may result in the employer losing
the potential work, as they may deny the requirements stated by the client, which
means that the client may siphon their project out to another employer or company.
Example: An example of this is a marketing company having multiple cunning ideas,
both with pros and cons. They may merge their ideas which can result in both parties
to agree on it.

Commissioned Brief
This brief is where a large media company will employ another independent media
company to create and produce the product for them. 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 which can result in
getting a cut of the royalties too. The brief is not negotiated between the company
and the client, however is negotiated between the two media companies.
Advantages: An advantage is that the independent production company will be paid
for creating the specific product, and may receive a fraction of the profit that is
generated by the product once it has been distributed to the intended consumer, also
known as the target audience of the product.
Disadvantages: A disadvantage for this might be that when the product has been
launched, the large company may develop a sense of corporate greed, not giving the
independent institution enough credit for their contribution, or paying them a sufficient
amount of money for their hard work. This creates an unfair advantage, which may
lead the independent business to complain to the large company, and will prevent
them from working for the giant corporation in the future.
Example: When a client pitches their idea including their regulations and needs in a
business meeting.

Tender Brief
A client would state that they require a specific media product to be created. After this
has been sent to a potential employer or company, they would initiate a brief, a
budget as well as a proposal which is then pitched to the client in order to secure
their chance of obtaining the work. The client would then take a look at all the
different tenders they have received and choose the one they prefer.
Advantages: An advantage could be that as there is a lot of competition, the
employer will be more determined and motivated to produce a high-quality proposal,
that will secure them the work from the client, therefore, making them more
productive as a company, as they will be thinking of the income in which they will
receive upon the completion of the project/product.
Disadvantages: A disadvantage for this type of brief is that because of the
competition, an employer is likely to be disheartened over losing the work set by the
client, to another company. It can be difficult for an employer to gain work, due to the
other employers, who also want to get the job. A company has to expect failure, so
that they can then look for temporary employment elsewhere.
Example: An example of this is a person is looking for a music video that has a
horror-type feel to it. Production companies will contact that person with reasons why
that company should shoot it (and also offer other things, such as: providing horror-
type costumes for free)

Competition Brief
This is a brief which is created in order to be accessible to all of the production
companies which are participating in creating a project/product. It is notable that each
corporation completes their own brief, outlining their ethos. All of the finished projects
created by these companies are judged and the most impressive one is crowned
winner, and is taken into publication by the client.
Advantages: An advantage may be that because of the heavy competition, the
employer will strive to pitch themselves to the client in the most efficient way,
behaving in a professional manner, which is likely to impress the client, and may, in
turn, provide the employer with work.
Disadvantages: Even though this type of brief is generally free to join, the winner of
the competition may have to pay a fee for being crowned victorious, as opposed to
the runner-up. There is a slight possibility that the winner may be unhappy with
siphoning out some of their income to the client. However, this is a part of the job,
and they will have to learn to accept it if they want to pursue a career within this
specific field of work.
Example: A great example of this is Virgin Media Shorts. They create a brief based
on a feature of choice (such as love) and people will have to create a short movie that
is related or containing the feature.

Reading a brief
Importance of reading the brief, nature & demand implicit

When starting any project it is important to read through the brief that you have been
set because it will express what the client wants, and so with this information you are
more likely to create something that is appropriate for its purpose. There are two
main elements that can be split up to make the brief easier to understand and break
down which are: the nature; that is based on what had been asked for you and what
the final product expected. As well as the demand; that cover the details involved
including the time constraints and man power needed to get the project finished in
time.
When reading through a specific brief it is very important to find out the demands of
the client and what is included in the brief. It is very important to know the demands
of the client and this is because they are the main focus of the project and without
knowing the demands of the client then the product could be made wrong and as a
result the client would not be happy as a result of the demands not being met. When I
am reading through the brief I will want to know straight away what the demands of
the client are when designing and thinking about a specific product. This will give me
a chance to speak to the client to see if the demands can be met or to see if there are
any problems with some of the demands which the client has asked for. For example
some of the demands which the client might have asked for could be specific house
styles which have to be asked for or for the product to be completed by a specific
timescale for example. This is why knowing the demands first is very important when
 reading through the brief and this will also give you a basic outline of what the
finished product could look like.

How to read my chosen brief

It is very important to read the brief correctly as this way, production companies can
understand exactly what is required of the client. If it is unclear, not properly read or
misunderstood by the company, then the project may not look as good or may be done
incorrectly. My chosen brief is the tender brief. This is because I like how my client
would state what type of require they require which means, They say and I decide how
to conduct it and send a response to them. I will need to make sure to correctly read
and analyse by:

• Better understanding of what is important to the tendering company

• Develops good understanding of key information
• Generates insights useful in compiling response
• Reveals how much work is involved in completing response
• Helps you decide whether you need a professional tender writer
• Helps in setting work schedule to get response completed to deadline
• Identifies evidence to be gathered or developed
• Identifies any missing documents
• Makes sure pricing is looked at early
• Identifies any contract issues
• Identifies issues where questions may need to be asked