This blog post is about a Dungeons and Dragons project I and my friend Marek made for college. This post shows the comments made whilst people evaluated it and my response to them.

The evaluations were mainly possitive with praise on the artwork, story and the card statistics, and negative comments on colour usage and spelling;

The first set of comments me and my partner Marek received Praised our well written adventures, which is a surprise because when I wrote them I was not to sure about them. The comments brought up some spelling issues, and maybe some errors on the card designs, which the comments suggested spell checker be used. This would be rather hard, as the cards were made in Photoshop which has not got spell checker. Marek has yet to master english spelling, but once he does this problem won’t bother him.

The second set of comments was pretty much the same with the artwork and card design, praising the well made cards, but they seemed to think the narrative was lacking in size. In all honesty it could have been bigger, that is true, but I had not time or enough information to do so. If I start this earlier next time I should have enough time. This set of comments said the cards and maps made were marketable, which is indeed high praise, as there were many mistakes which I could have pointed out.

The third set of comments was mainly art based, commenting on the detail and designs of the art. They also mention how the card designs were original and the adventures were detailed. They commented mainly on how the art was colourless, saying there should have been more colour. The cards we were handed were monotone, so I drew the pictures in monotone, so I can’t really accept that criticism, however, I shall try to use more colour in the future if the project calls for it.

The fourth set of comments mentioned the cards and the product in general was well rounded, but as mentioned before, they said that the text is brief and could be improved. They mention that the card statistics were well balances, I’m glad that Marek did a good job there.

The Fifth set of comments, praised the designs for being imaginative and creative, but said the written parts weren’t on par with the artistic parts. It mentioned that we should focus more on the written parts. I can see this, but I spend some time trying to communicate with my partner over the card section, so time was limited on the time we had for the written part. I thought it was short but sweet, but I can see how it would be criticised for this, and next time I am doing something like this I shall try to do the writing first.

The sixth set of comments was of a more technical note, commenting on how the cards were made in Photoshop format which would make it hard for some people to access them, and commenting on the colour once again. They also mentioned the projection of the concept, which I don’t understand, but I guess It means the project should be better presented.

I shall take all of these into account next time I do a project, and I thank all involved for their criticism.

The Brief is rather informal, yet gets the main message of what is expected of you across succinctly and clearly. You are expected to create a new Dungeons and Dragons adventure set, complete with play area tile maps, characters, monsters, treasures and traps, and some rules for the adventure. It must be able to include other Dungeons and Dragons content from any book from the 4^th edition core books. It must be either loosely or completely based on mythology from within the British Isles, using characters and monsters from legend or myth, or even some from real life, and areas related to the United Kingdom. The stories too must fit in with British mythology, or at least be loosely based.  This brief is simple, and shows the time you have and the money you will be allowed, and what kind of attitude they would expect the team that would work on this to be like towards the subject (i.e. Enthusiastic) and how they expect you to present your work. Overall, I think this brief is a decent one, but could use some tweaking if it was to be put into the actual industry. Some of the contractual terms are a bit loose.

For project roles, we would have to hire Concept artists for the artwork we would want to put on the character cards, and the artwork we may want to put on the map tiles. We will obviously need an expert in the rules and playing of Dungeons and Dragons, who will advise the entire task force on how the game works and how our designs and characters will fit in with the game. We would need graphics designers to create and make the cards and tiles, and some equipment to create the prototypes. We would need some researchers to find out information on character ideas that we wish to do, and an Administrator to help the team to keep on task.

 The Pay checks would have to be fair; I would say about £30 a week for the artist or less if there’s more than one, £40 per week for the advisor, a lump sum of £100 for each of the graphics team who create the cards and tiles, or a negotiated fee, and a spare amount of around £700 for the equipment, as printers and graphic design products do not cost much. And finally a pay check of around £50 a week for the Admin.

This is a Gantt chart of our plan;

Our planned response would be a booklet of the British based adventure, based on the last quests of King Arthur and his knights of the round table, an adventure that has been lost to history. The booklet would involve the rules, story, and details of the quest. It would also contain artwork to show what the quest might look like, and artwork maps showing the ‘land’ of the quest. It would have to contain the usually mandatory regulations, such as safety instructions and copyrights. We would also create prototypes of the models of characters we create, using plastic, clay or cheap metal, and the character cards that would come with it, which would contain the statistics and artwork of the character and would be vital to the set. The prototype will also contain map tiles for small areas of the quest, as it would not be necessary to create all the tiles until the planning is complete and the prototype is successful to save money and time. The tiles will be fully coloured and complete, with planned areas, but yet can be lain out in random ways. We will also be creating monsters for the quest, and like the other characters they will have cards and prototype models. They like the rest of this product will be based on British mythological creatures and monsters that King Arthur might have been said to have fought.  And that would cover all the requirements for the brief so far.

A Brief explanation

Briefs are often a simple yet comprehensive explanation of what the client wants from the person given the brief. It can be as simple as an informal brief, a written explanation of what is needed to be done, often informal yet distinct, but it can also be a contract with very specific objectives and a formal manner, often called a ‘Tendered’ brief. They often start with a worded description, formal or not. Sometimes if the client and designer are close this can consist of a casual conversation, otherwise it’s just written communication. You can also receive a briefing as a group, in a team, but these briefs are often hard to negotiate, but simple and easy to spread information around. Next, the Brief will have a list of requirements, involving what needs to be done, what information will need to be gathered and required materials. The idea of the brief is that the creative elements of the client’s initial idea are present in the final product. Briefs must be simple and easy to follow, are you must clarify with the client about uncertainties you have with the brief.

Here is an example of a tendered brief;

Project Brief: Example

A family plumbing business called "Leaky Pipes?" want an interactive web presence to advertise their plumbing business. It is intended that the site be commercial and educational.

There are two brothers and one sister in the company and each have different ideas about what should be included in the web site. They all agree that they want more than just a static web presence on the Internet and that they would like the site to have some interactivity.

They think that a good way to attract users to their plumbing site would be to have an educational aspect to it. Dempster, the eldest brother, is interested in making small mini videos with him carrying out simple plumbing maintenance tasks. He is very interested in health and safety. Miquel, the youngest brother wants the site to have a page with a list of simple plumbing maintenance tips including what to do in emergency before a plumber arrives. The advice and videos given will only show how to carry out simple plumbing maintenance with the view of users finding the site in a search and then contacting the business for quality plumbing work. The sister, Laurietta, wants an on-line quotation form for plumbing work that will allow a user to complete it and then submit it for general quotes and an e-mail facility for more complicated quotes. At the moment there is no need for an e-commerce facility.

The company logo used should contain the company name and a colourful image of a plumber.

The users to be targeted would be anyone who would be likely to require dependable and reasonably priced plumbers.

All three of the partners have asked for the completed web site to be ready in four months time.

I found that at this website: http://www.sqa.org.uk/e-learning/IMPlanning01CD/page_09.htm

That example shows the problem first, and then explains the problem in more detail. It ends with a list of requirements as I explained, all briefs will have these. This example shows a problem, and that in a sense is what a brief is; A set problem that you must solve, with given objectives.

If the Brief needs changing, or seems unreasonable, or you have issues with it, there are ways of changing the requirements, to a degree. If a requirement is impossible for you to do, say, there is too little money given in the budget, or the request is highly impractical, you can request a change in the brief from the client. If the budget is up for discussion ask what constraints are there on what you can do with the amount of money given. If you need clarification of something in the brief, it is best to ask as soon as possible. If the Client doesn’t relent to a compromise, you could request extra time, or work your way around the problem yourself. You could even get help. If the problem is too much, then it would be for the best for the project to be passed on to someone else or got rid of altogether.

 If the brief set before you seem a bit of a challenge, use this opportunity to expand on your skills and set about learning the skills you will need for the task. If the client will pay for training, then feel free to do so. Also, if you feel you can improve the final product of the brief, doing it better (although within the restraints of the brief itself) then approach the client about it and see what they say about your proposal.

All in all, as I said before, a brief is a problem that you must solve in a certain way to satisfy the client, and you can try to make the result as best you can by using negotiation and innovation. This is the same with all forms of project briefing and is an important life skill to learn.