A Client’s Quick Guide to Judging Creative Execution
Do you feel like your opinions towards your designer’s creative work are often misunderstood or go unheard? Perhaps you’re missing these few key components to creating a productive feedback session.
Utilize the brand brief and know your objectives
Anyone can say what they like and don’t like about something, but real progress is achieved when there is a standard for doing so. To keep your criticism from losing context and breaching the barrier of subjectivity, keeping your brand brief top of mind is key. The brand brief should be your primary reference for all decisions and judgments made in relation to your business. Your brief outlines the criteria in which you measure ideas and gives you an objective framework to make sense of visual abstractions.
Realize the effort is collaborative
The design process is a two-way street. Both parties, the client and the designer, are making strides for the best possible outcome and most likely have different skills they bring to the table. The client is an inside expert on their business, and they provide invaluable insight needed for the project. The designer is diligent and focused in their creative work but also has the ability to integrate it into the bigger picture. Each role is necessary to reaching the intended objective. Therefore a mutual respect is essential from the start and throughout the entire process. Respecting each other and allowing the other to do what they do best gives the work a firmer foundation.
Don’t be afraid to acknowledge the good AND the bad, but always stay positive.
All designers feel ownership for their work. That’s another reason why it’s important to keep you criticisms objective. In the end, if the design itself doesn’t speak to the objectives set in place by the brand brief, don’t be afraid to question the designer on why certain decisions have been implemented. That allows you both to gain a better understanding of the project as a whole. Feel free to suggest alternative ways to reinterpret it. Despite whether you are giving "good" or "bad" feedback, positivity is crucial.
....................................................................................................................
■ KEY TAKEAWAY: When providing feedback during the design process it is important to establish a positive, collaborative environment where both the designer and client roles are respected and the brand brief is the keystone off all judgment.
