Let me start by saying this: great design is a collaboration between the client and the designer.
I wouldn’t be the designer I am today without my clients. And that’s not just because the more clients I have the bigger my portfolio gets. It’s because they push me to be better through their feedback.
Many people are worried about saying the wrong thing and offending their designer. It’s hard to tell someone you don’t like their direction or art.
But you'll do yourself a disservice by withholding feedback. If you go along with whatever your designer wants, and don’t tell them what you really need to, no one ends up happy in the end. The designer becomes frustrated trying to understand what you really want with vague feedback, and you don’t get a product you really love.
Here are things to remember when it comes time to give your designer feedback.
Don't withhold feedback at the beginning
You meet with your designer for an initial consultation. Everyone is excited. You share ideas, colors, mood boards, and sketches begin.
Then you get the first round of design concepts. It’s not what you expected exactly, or maybe it’s not the direction you envisioned at all. Maybe you love it but want just a few things changed.
This is where it’s time for the feedback and collaboration to begin.
You have to let your designer know during this phase exactly what you like about some concepts and what you don’t like about others. It’s critical during the first concepts to determine a design direction so down the line, you don’t tell them you hate it and an entirely new design has to be made (yes, that has happened to me!), and this will be at your expense, since a new design is outside the scope of the original project. Or worse: you settle for something you don't love because you didn't provide direction, and are stuck with a product you spent a lot of money on.
Be specific (and make a list!)
Start off by listing the elements you like. Be as descriptive as possible. Think about your business and what you need this product to say about it. Did the designer capture your vision? What about it works and what doesn’t?
Then get into what you definitely don’t want. Tell them the reasons why you don’t want certain elements so they can avoid making the same mistake again.
Don’t use vague phrases like “make it pop” and “make it bigger”. Trying to interpret what this means is lost in translation. Explain the reasons why you need these changes and it will help your designer find solutions.
Making a very detailed list helps make sure your edits are incorporated and nothing is missed.
Ask questions
Don’t be afraid to ask questions of your designer. Feedback time is your opportunity to have a conversation and ask about why your designer made certain choices, and clear things up if you’re unsure about a style choice. And no question is too silly or annoying!
If they’re talking some design lingo you don’t understand, let them know. It’s not good if the designer is talking about leading and kerning fonts and serifs vs. sans serifs if you have no idea what they’re talking about. I personally love helping educate my clients on these elements and principles of design (another blog post to come later). It helps clients better articulate their feedback and me understand what they want changed.
Bring examples of what you like
If it helps you explain yourself, it helps your designer.
Sometimes it’s hard to articulate what you want when you don’t know how to express it. Providing examples of what you like really helps your designer determine style direction. Start a Pinterest board to share with your designer or even clip stuff out of magazines if that’s your thing.
Sketch it out! I get tons of sketches from my clients, with arrows and boxes and rudimentary stick figures pointing every which way. You may feel silly doing this or even concerned about what your designer will think of your “terrible” drawing but let me tell ya, these visual cues help out a ton!
...But don’t micro-manage
It’s your designer’s job to take your ideas and bring them to life. You hired them for their knowledge and skills to produce a great product for you.
It’s not your designer’s job to just be a tool to do your bidding.
Let me explain it this way:
You want exactly this one thing: a logo with this font, this animal, this color. But you don’t know how to use the software to create it. You hire a designer to make what you want and that’s it.
This is so, so frustrating for designers because we expect to use our creativity to solve problems, not be used as a cursor inside a graphics program that you control completely.
Ever read the Oatmeal? He has a cartoon called How a Web Design Goes Straight to Hell. I suggest you read it to understand what not to do.
Think about your audience
You may like the font and colors, but what about your audience? Sorry, but it's not always just about what you want.
Maybe your demographic is older. They may have reading glasses. Can they easily see the typeface? Is the color too much? Is there enough white space or is it too busy?
Always, always, always be thinking of your clients and your audience. If the design doesn't speak to them, you'll lose them.
Keep your feedback manageable
This advice is for your own sanity (and your designer’s).
Don’t let everyone at your business, or your whole family, give you feedback. Choose the people who will be helping make major design decisions, someone who represents your audience, and a subject matter expert.
Always have the feedback of others go to you first and have only one primary contact with the designer. This avoids confusion and duplication of work.
Be helpful, not hurtful
Designers are used to receiving feedback. It makes us better designers! It would be weird if we didn’t get feedback. Like I said, great design is about collaboration.
We won’t have hurt feelings over your critique as long as you make it about the design and not the designer. Use “I” statements and not “you” statements.
Example:
Helpful: “I’m having trouble reading the font and I think my customers will too. Can you try something with less cursive elements?”
Hurtful: “Your font choice sucks. My kid could pick something better.”
As long as you're nice, everyone will be happy.
Now go forth with your new found critiquing skills and get what you want!
Have you had a good or bad experience with giving or receiving feedback? Or tips for working with designers? Tell me about it! Email me bestcoastdesignco@gmail.com
Thanks to Kathryn Coffman at Fashionably Frank Marketing and Olivia Salazar de Breaux at Oly Bella for sharing your design experiences with me to help me write this post.