First look at YCN briefs

Having found out one of the assessments for this module entails completing a YCN Student Award brief, I've spent the last few days looking over the potential briefs and narrowing down the options.

On their website, YCN (2013) state that the briefs are "written each year by partnering brands, charities and other organisations", a lot of whom are quite big, well-known brands such as Bacardi, Lego and Nissan.

Each brief is described on the YCN website in quite some detail, so I have browsed through them all to get a general feel for what they are asking. I think this was a good way to approach the task as there are around 20 briefs and so reading through all of them in detail would have taken a great deal of time. By skimming through the information, I was able to identify issues and rule out some briefs immediately based on the final outcome they required and my lack of expertise in that particular area (for instance, video/film), making the remaining briefs more relevant options.

I have now shortlisted around 8 of the briefs - some due to personal interest in the subject, others because I had an instant "idea" - and need to look at them in more detail in order to find the most suitable. I plan to print out the briefs and accompanying project packs and read through them more thoroughly, highlighting key terms and making notes about my thoughts and ideas as I go along. This should hopefully give an indication as to which briefs I have more of a connection to. I want to be left with a final three which I can then mind-map more in-depth ideas for.

It's quite exciting, but also daunting, knowing that my work will be judged against that of other students from across the country, even internationally. I've spent some time looking at commendations from past awards to see what kind of ideas tend to be successful. One of the main things that struck me was that the final work submitted is very polished and professional, and so this is something I will need to concentrate on towards the end of the process as it is an area I feel my work has previously been let down by. Considering the number of entries there will be, I am aware that my solution to the brief will need to be fresh and something a little different in order to stand out.

 

 Images from YCN website (www.ycn.org)