Exercise in Class

In my advertising class last week, we did an exercise that I found to be insightful and thought provoking. Using different masterpieces from the ancient world including the pyramids and the Sistine Chapel, we imagined what sort of creative brief would be given to each of the teams that executed the work. We learned about the balance between being too vague and open ended with directions and being too specific and not allowing for any imagination and creativity. A good creative brief should inspire, and give some guidance as to the key aspects to use, but it should not be limiting or bossy.

For the pyramids, one of the best examples generated was "Build a magnificent tomb that will honor the great and powerful leaders, and immortalize Egypt's glory as a center for knowledge and trade." This type of rich language fuels the inspiration for unbelievable works of creativity like the pyramids. It leaves room for creativity, but doesn't leave the team guessing as to what the end goal is.

I really enjoyed this assignment and it has left me imagining what other good briefs inspired. As we move forward this semester and work on creating our own creative brief, I will be using this lesson to help make a better brief myself.