Key
·
= Questions
o
= Answers
- Explain different
types of briefs
- Include examples of
briefs
- List the advantages and disadvantages of different types of briefs
A brief is a set of
instructions given to a person about a job or a task. Different types of Briefs
include;
o
Contractual Brief – this kind of brief includes a legal binding
contract, with the employee and employer, to make sure the company follows the
brief exactly. An advantage is that the company working on the brief will know
what the project is as it will be very detailed. A disadvantage for this type
of brief is that is the employer giving the brief thinks that you have not
followed the contact accordingly, you could get into legal trouble which either
results in loss of money, or reputation.
o
Co-Operative Brief – in this brief, one of more companies are hired to
work on the brief. Advantages are the workload gets shared, and having more
people on hands with the project means more people that can give ideas and
creative influence. However, more people can lead to ideas getting confused
with so many people working on the project, and can also lead to disagreements.
o
Competition Brief – the client publicly puts out their brief so it can
be accessed by different production companies. Once completed, the client can
judge which company has the best project and receives a reward stated in their
brief. These competitions can be good because it is usually open and accessible
to a wider variety of companies, you also gain experience from entering and you
can put it on your CV when it’s finished, however if you don’t win you could be
losing potential money, time and energy, so they can be risky to enter.
o
Tender Brief – an advertised brief for potential bids. An advantage is that the
client will be able to look at lots of different ideas and projects from
different companies, but, like the competition brief, if the company doesn’t
win, they are looking at a loss for their company, so complete work for this
type of brief, they need to be very positive that they are going to win.
o
Negotiated Brief – if there are two or more media companies working on a brief, then
a negotiated brief will be brought up. Through this brief, any issues the
companies might have will be brought up in this brief, and anything they need
to have clear with the client. What is good about this brief is that they can
negotiate parts of the project, meaning it will be more open to suggestions
from multiple people which could improve the project’s overall successful.
However, sometimes this brief can be a waste of time, as it brings up
unnecessary issues that end up delaying the project.
o
Commission Brief – this brief is sent by a large company, to other small/independent
companies to create and produce a product for them. An advantage is that the
larger company will can share their work i.e. they don’t have to do all the
work by themselves. A disadvantage is the same with a co-operative brief –
multiple companies working on one product/project can lead to disagreements and
conflict.
o
Informal Brief – an informal brief is not documented and is usually the client verbally
discusses the requirements of the brief with the company to make the project.
Advantages include the face that this brief is discussed in real time with the
client and the company, this lets them both client and company personally
understand exactly what to do on the project. Disadvantages include, that this
brief has no written contract to prove to the company, meaning it is possible
that the client won’t pay the company, and legal action can’t be taken as there
is no contract or legal document to prove.
o
Formal Brief – The client gives the media company a brief which gives enough
information to produce the project they want to have created. Any further
information or issues that prop up will be discussed after the brief is sent.
This type of brief allows the client to be open about any ideas or issues to
the company. This is an advantage because it makes work creative for the
company, with room for negotiation. Disadvantages are that the company given
the brief sometimes feel like they have not been given enough information by
the client, resulting in emails back and forth.
- Summarise what a client expects you to do using a sample brief or
the ‘live brief’
A life brief is when the
client works externally with the company on the brief. Examples of one live
brief is;
o
In Cardiff, a company
called Little Man Coffee approached South Wales University and set a live brief
to second year illustration students.
(via SouthWales.ac.uk)
During the live brief, the client expects
the students to negotiate the brief, discuss what they will be doing on the brief, talk about
constraints, any budgets issues they might face, fees, ETC.
- Provide ideas on how you could respond to a brief using an example
brief as a guide:
o
First, check with the
person sending the brief if you have to sign a contract. You need to make sure
you have read it thoroughly so you won’t get into legal trouble (explained more
below). Next you work out the budget, and if the money they are sending you can
cover the project they want you to create. Then discuss in detail what they
want you to create so you don’t make something they are not happy with (initial
drawings or moodboards). Or if it is a music video, talk about what genre, if
it’s live action, CGI, or 2-D animated, the length of the video, what format
they what it in (.mp4, .mov, .flv, .avi, or .wav), what resolution they want it
in (740p, 1080p, 2k, 4k), and if you have enough equipment to record the
quality they want, etc.
o
For example, in the
University of South Wales, first year students of Advertising Design were given
a live brief, that informed them to create an advertisement to promote the
worldwide partners of the Rugby World Cup 2015. The students had rules they had
to follow in line with the brief. The artwork created must comply with the
guidelines of the brand and rights holder, and not go off brand. The message
must clearly show the values of the brand, and what the event is about. Lastly,
the advertisement needs to be attention grabbing and stand out from the crowd.
Below are some designs produced by them;
Explain
any legal, regulatory or ethical issues you may need to consider.
Issues
that I may need to consider when working with a client can include;
o
Following
their legal binding contract (if it’s a contract or formal brief), otherwise I
could get into Legal trouble
o
Not
using content that is copyright, or plagiarising other people’s work
o
Staying
within the guidelines of governing bodies
o
Treating
employees ethically & legally
Legal
considerations while working in a brief:
You
also need to consider any ethical issues, for example, the music video ‘This is
America’ came under a lot of criticism. This is because it depicted a lot of
violence and murder against black people, and even showing dead children. Although
the message had good intentions – to show how racism was still alive/relevant
in America, a lot of people were quite horrified with the brutal images in the
video, and some felt like the political message was a bit tacky. Before making
a music video you need to think about who it might offend.
- List and explain any issues that you may
encounter while working with a client and how you may solve them
Working
with any kind of client can create problems, because you are both individuals
that have different approaches to the project. Here are some problems that
might happen and how to solve it;
o You
miss the deadline. It is crucial for companies not to miss the end date, it
could result in a huge loss of time, money, and an unhappy client. To avoid
this, make sure the client’s proposed timeline is completely reachable, on top
of that, also include a few weeks in case of accidents on the project that you
need to overcome. It’s better to overshoot then undershoot.
o The
finished work isn’t good enough. If the client does not like the finished
piece, it is a little out of your reach to stop, but there are ways of avoiding
this. First off, instead of diving head first into the project, thoroughly read
the contract (if they have one), or send emails in detail discussing every
aspect of the project, so you can understand the client’s vision and exactly
what they want to create. Secondly, make sure you’re sending your client
progress updates every few weeks, so the client can see you’re on the right
track, and can give you feedback on things they want changed. Lastly, to avoid
creating a project that the client may be unhappy with, make sure they give you
enough money to cover the costs and expenses of what they want to have created.
If they need a music video with dynamic lighting, live animals, and different
locations, before agreeing to work on the project, work out how much it is going
to cost, and make sure they pay more than that.
Resources:
Abbie
Thorpe. (March 2013). Creative Media. Available:
http://creativemediaatjt.blogspot.com/. Last accessed 28th Sep. 2018.
Gene
Zaino. (March 28, 2017 ). Four Common Client Challenges. Available:
https://www.mbopartners.com/blog/4-common-client-challenges-and-how-to-handle-them.
Last accessed 28th Sep. 2018.
Simon
Beckett. (2015). Students get their first taste of a live brief. Available:
https://www.southwales.ac.uk/courses/ba-hons-advertising-design/1807/students-get-their-first-taste-of-a-live-brief/.
Last accessed 28th Sep. 2018.
Huw
Emrys Conway. (2015). Live brief for Little Man Coffee. Available:
https://www.southwales.ac.uk/courses/ba-hons-illustration/1965/live-brief-for-little-man-coffee/.
Last accessed 28th Sep. 2018.
Childish Gambino . (May
5, 2018). This Is America (Official Video).Available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY. Last accessed 28th Sep. 2018.
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