If we ignore them, failure is guaranteed.
Conversely, if we follow them slavishly, the most likely outcome is mediocrity.
But if we learn to question them and challenge them, then at least we have a chance of producing work that has conceptual depth, and does the job it's supposed to do with flair and originality.
The most important aspect of a brief is the person, or persons, who issued it.
In other words, there is always "someone" behind a brief - a living human being with thoughts, prejudices, fears and concerns.
In our haste to get work in the door, it's easy to forget this.
You can't interrogate a brief, and it's only by speaking to the brief's creator that you will squeeze out additional information, which is the catalyst for great work.
Briefs come in all shapes and sizes - some good, some bad; some comprehensive, some skimpy.
Let's look at how to deal with them...
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