Creative communication

In today’s article, we’re going to look at some of the important aspects to be aware of in creative communication. This article is relevant to both potential clients, and also photographers and videographers looking for a general guide on how to foster effective creative communication between each other.

At TR Media, we’ve seen a range of different communication styles over the years. So we know firsthand the positive or negative impact that it can have on the final deliverables of a project. It’s something that we regularly pay close attention to, and we are always working on how to improve our own communication with each project.

It’s also subject that we feel is often overlooked within the industry, and we hope this article will encourage others to pay closer attention to how they communicate.

So what is creative communication, and what’s the goal?

Often those coming from the business side of things, will be entrenched in a very analytical, business or corporate environment, and creatives are on the other end of the spectrum, sometimes very far removed from their counterparts. Creative communication is the bridging or translation of this gap between different spaces in order to achieve a collective aim as smoothly as possible.

Initial stages when making an enquiry

The first thing we’re looking from our side is some basic logistical and project information to make sure that we have availability, and the appropriate skillset to deliver on the project.

Important information to convey in the initial email or call, are:

• • • Dates/times and logistics of the project.

      This is particularly important if it is an event or a time-sensitive project. Don’t be afraid to be really specific with the event details, communicate exactly when/where the event is taking place and for how long. This alone can either make the project possible or not, so communicating this in the initial stages is key. Another aspect that may be important is turnaround times if it’s a time-sensitive project. Here at TR Media, we typically deliver projects within a two-week working period, but we can offer a rush fee at an additional cost.

    • Creative vision of the project.

      Whilst most projects are ultimately a collaborative effort, it’s still very important to at least have a rough idea of what your creative vision for the project., Even if it’s as simple as having a clear idea of how long you’d like X video to be, or how many photos that you need. If you are part of a large company, it’s also critical to ensure that this creative vision is consistent with whoever has sign off on the project. On a few occasions, we’ve had issues where our point of contact within a company stated X deliverables, but it later turned out that a separate person who also had sign off on the project expected something different. So please ensure the creative vision is shared across the board before work starts, this avoids any difficulties down the line.

    • Budget.

      Typically it is the responsibility of the creative you are hiring to quote for the project/work, however knowing a rough budget from the client side can be incredibly helpful. Unfortunately, it can sometimes happen where a budget doesn’t line up with a quote, and this is normal, but knowing your own budget helps to identify the type/scale of project that you can afford. At TR Media we try to be as transparent as possible with our own pricing and make it work where we can.

How to communicate the vision

Once there is an overview of the logistics, creative vision and budget, that may be enough to go ahead with project itself. Particularly if there is an already established working relationship. However, more often than not, we recommend going a little bit more granular on the creative aspects of the project. Below, you’ll find some tips on how best to communicate these aspects.

For Photography,

• If we have a photoshoot booked in, we typically like the client to create a mood board, which is a combination of a few different sample photographs that they like and stitch them together into a single document. Seeing them all together really helps to give us a sense of the type of style and mood that you’re going for with the project.
• On our side, we will take a detailed look through all of your website(s), and social media platforms to get a thorough idea for the type of visual content you’ve produced before. When combined with a detailed mood board, then we have a very strong creative guideline for the project.
• Additionally, any visual inspiration you’ve seen recently, or any content that your competitors are putting out can be helpful resources to see what the current trends are.

For Video Production,

Creative planning for a video project can vary a little bit more due to the added complexity. Normally we like to have a more specific logistics brief compared to photography before booking in a project. This is because the work and time involved on a video production project can increase very quickly, and so it’s super important to get everything dialed in beforehand. For example the difference between a 1min and a 2min video could be a full days editing work, so being detailed really matters here.

• Mood boards also work here. Simple screen grabs from different sources that you like can be really helpful, however may not always work depending on the type of video content we’re shooting. In our experience, they work really well for corporate interviews, and more static content.
• For more dynamic content, such as promotional videos, event coverage etc, we recommend sending through some reference videos that you like, so that we have a general sense and vibe that you like for your brand/company.

Regular pitfalls we see

It’s common to experience a few bumps in the road with any project, and this is a natural part of any creative process. However, these are some of the common pitfalls we see, and knowing these ahead of time might save a few headaches.

• Underestimating the time it will take to be on location.

  This often happens for video production projects, and is typically a result of not enough preparation on logistics.

• Creatives are over-realistic in what they can achieve or how fast they can deliver something.

  Also agreeing/promising things that they can’t follow through on. This is very common for those a little less experienced, as they are normally quite eager to please. They don’t have the experience to know their own limits. So this can lead to unrealistic expectations on both sides, and when these aren’t met, it can lead to difficulties in re-adjusting and re-communicating new expectations.

• Lack of appropriate creative detail on the vision of the client, leading to retrospective changes.

  This is very common and is also understandable, as the client probably has a number of different things on the go. But the more attention and care put in beforehand dramatically reduces the amount of stress afterwards.

• Over relying on emails to communicate, when a call is better.

  It’s very hard to translate an email into a photograph or video, but through a call you can get a clearer picture.

Why this is important

So all of this may sound like a lot of work and a lot of effort, when at the end of the day you just want to get the project booked, shot and completed to be ready to move on to the next. But we don’t think this is the right attitude to have, and it’s not how we work here at TR Media.

Creating a shared expectation and creative vision for any project you’re involved in is a crucial step in the whole photography/video production process, and it helps to keep everyone on the same page. Playing lose and fast in the pre-planning stages, can lead to really big problems once shooting has finished, and spending that extra little bit of time in the pre-planning stages is always the better option.

We always send out a pre-shoot information sheet, which you can download below to give you an example of the sort information we look for when working with a client.

We’d also recommend checking out this brief LinkedIn article that talks about some great points that we haven’t covered here in our own article.