Provide creative and strategic direction of work in the creative industries
Overview
This standard is about your ability to understand and specify the product’s high-level creative and commercial requirements and/or purpose.
To carry this out you will liaise with the client or other project sponsors. You need to be able to originate conceptual ideas, usually in consultation with others, combining creative and logical thinking.
You will need to produce written or drawn documentation, oversee project teams and specialists and ensure the project’s business objectives and creative vision are understood and maintained
You will need to combine expertise in business, management, content, design and technical disciplines. This function has a close relationship with ‘pure’ project management, but focuses on the project’s creative requirements rather than the mechanics of running it however; the two functions are often combined in practice.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
P1 identify and specify relevant design, technical and commercial parameters
P2 devise solutions to meet requirements within relevant design parameters
P3 select the most appropriate technologies and approaches to achieve the work
P4 specify the requirements of the work in a clear and concise way
P5 liaise with strategic, creative, technical, project management and management staff to ensure the requirements are understood and can be effectively implemented
P6 liaise with external and/or internal project sponsors to clarify their requirements and expectations
P7 liaise with the client to obtain approval for the work
P8 evaluate and give constructive feedback about creative and technical work produced by others
P9 recommend viable design changes when necessary
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
1 the resources and timescales required to carry out the work
2 the different specialist skills that may be required for a given project
3 the needs and expectations of your organisation’s design and production staff
4 the nature of the client’s business and the context in which the product is required
5 how to communicate effectively with the different people involved in development
6 how to evaluate creative and technical work to ensure it is fit for purpose and meets requirements
7 how to reconcile client, user and commercial requirements
8 the different technologies, platforms, online services, tools, formats, and creative or technical approaches that are available, and their advantages, disadvantages and implications
9 how to identify which technologies, tools, and creative or technical approaches would be most appropriate to use
10 how to submit work for approval, manage change requests, and obtain sign-off
11 current and anticipated trends in design, concepts and use of technology for the industry
12 the need to consider multi-channel delivery and the impact this may have on design and development
13 the importance of sound project management, including the need to obtain approval for one key stage before proceeding to the next
14 the importance of a strong creative direction and clear lines of accountability in the team
15 project management processes and methodologies