Standing Out

        When starting out with any brief there are 4 questions you should always ask yourself, and the answers to these questions should be a point of referral throughout the project to remind yourself what your initial ambitions were and whether you are fulfilling them. It is also good to write down your thoughts before other have had the chance to influence you. These questions (and the answers) are as follows:

1. Why have you chosen the brief? The brief stood out to me because of my love of books, and fond memories of being read to by my parents, so my passion for the subject balance the challenges of branching out and expanding my visual communication skills.
2. What do you want to get out of it? I hope that this brief will help me to develop my skills as a visual communicator/experience of how to convey a fairly complex and serious message. I also wish to gain experience of working to competition standards and requirements.
3. What do you need in order to respond to it? What are the requirements in the brief? A 'creative resource' that will inspire and motivate the target audience (dads) to read to their children, and show the importance of a father's input. The resource needs to raise awareness or the charity and the campaign in order to attract ambassadors. Must include Save the Children's logo.
4. What do you want to produce in response to it? I envisage producing a short animation (possibly using pre existing literary characters) that highlights the core message that as little as 10 minutes reading to a child per day can improve their future prospects and offer a way out of poverty. As the campaign is aimed at the dads themselves, it may be sensible to use characters they are more likely to be familiar with.   

What are the 5 most important words in the Save the Children brief?

• Children
• Reading
• Future
• Potential
• Fathers/dads

What are the 5 most important considerations?

• Fathers reading to their children has a significant impact on their reading ability.
• Each year 130,000 children leave primary school with inadequate reading skills (many from low income backgrounds).
• There is a strong ling in the UK between low pay, unemployment and illiteracy.
• Reading is the key to a child's future.
• Low income fathers are less likely to read regularly to their children.

What are 5 related products?

• Books
• Posters
• Information films
• Adverts (online? apps?)
• Writing equipment

What are 5 related places?

• UK
• Schools
• Homes
• Streets/shops around homes - places with words and signs to read
• Child's future work place

        We then handed our brief to someone who had chosen a different brief so that they could answer the same questions and their responses were surprisingly similar:

5 Most important words

• Reading
• Children
• Poor literacy
• Future
• Fathers

5 Most important considerations:

• Getting children to read more
• Dads read to their children
• Fathers have a bigger impact on children's reading
• 10 minutes a day makes a huge difference

5 Related products:

• Books
• Promotional outlets
• Flyers
• Posters
• Films

5 Related places:

• Home
• School
• Bed
• Poorer areas/demographics
• UK

        While seeing someone else respond to a brief in a similar way can be reassuring, as it lets you know you are on the right track and working in the right direction. However, it can also be a disadvantage, as it indicates that many other entrants may have had the same ideas as you, and your work will have a reduced chance of standing out.

        So it may be beneficial to think more laterally and explore what the brief is asking in greater depth, beyond the literal interpretation. Think outside the box!