Discuss: Design Criticism and the Creative Process
by Cassie McDaniel
- Editorial Comments
2
That seems to me like a ‘nice to have’ but very lengthy approach. Usually I don’t have that much time (budget) to collaborate. And isn’t the payers opinion deciding?
posted at 01:20 pm on January 11, 2011 by kanzlei
3
Really great article. Even if Design as such is subjective you need criticism as you can not ignore the audience nor the client you are designing for.Thanks.
posted at 04:10 pm on January 11, 2011 by Theo
4
Thanks for the comments. @kanzlei – I suppose the payer’s opinion IS deciding (if you want to keep that sort of client around), but are they not paying you for your expertise? This article is really about respecting that relationship as well as interpreting feedback to find the nuances that allow for negotiation prior to deciding who has the final word. I don’t think collaboration necessarily has to be a lengthy process, either – use social sites, for instance: almost immediate feedback absolutely free. With clients, responding to reactions should mostly be done in situ, while the conversations are happening, which helps prevent misunderstandings from blowing up into the dreaded “do what I say or you’re fired” scenario. Hope that helps.
posted at 12:49 pm on January 12, 2011 by Cassie McDaniel
5
This piece will be very useful to me in my new role as Creative Lead where I work. I am the only formally trained designer on staff, and I have found that when I bring non-design coworkers into the process collaboratively early on, it helps the whole project go more smoothly. I am hoping to set up a regular “crit session” now and will use this article as a springboard to sell the idea.
posted at 04:48 pm on January 12, 2011 by Chris Raymond
6
The idea of every site is to get users to be moved to an action
so the design and development of any site has to have the right sort of feed back to create these outcomes. I do agree with this article in the sense it is not a blight on the designer if
they get feed back as we don’t always know what the user will do.
posted at 07:16 pm on January 12, 2011 by purencool
7 critiques & design education
There’s been a lot of criticism of formal web design education recently, and even though I am a full-time design educator at Cuyahoga Community College I have to admit that much of the criticism is deserved. It’s been pointed out that many successful designers are self-taught and many believe that it’s the best option available.
For some, but it doesn’t work for everyone. There are a number of advantages to a structured educational process like we offer, not the least of which is regular critiques of one’s work. In my entry-level Intro to Visual Communication class students often single out critiques as their favorite/most valuable part of the class.
The points made in this article are all things we talk about constantly in critiques. Aside from technical skills and aesthetic values which we hope students develop, they also learn to talk about their work and that of others in a way that is productive for everyone. Because we are a community college with students from a wide range of backgrounds and ages from 18 to 50+, the critiques can be quite lively.
This collaborative atmosphere is one of the things that may make a formal education worth the price of admission.
posted at 11:49 pm on January 12, 2011 by awdsgn
8
@kanzlei:
And isn’t the payers opinion deciding?
Well … yes and no. Two reasons.
One – the payer might not have a well-formed opinion. If the best they can articulate is “I don’t like it” or “Make it look more web 2.0” then you haven’t actually got any information to go on – you still need more from them about exactly what it is they don’t like, and what they want you to add.
Two – the payer might be an idiot. While I wouldn’t usually phrase it like that when talking to them, some people just have no idea about good design and website architecture. They’ve hired you as a professional, so they ought to at least be able to take advice from you. Otherwise you’ll end up with this situation – and no-one wins when that happens.
posted at 10:55 am on January 13, 2011 by Stephen Down
9 Just to add
The core individuals participating in the collaborative effort need to all be experts, and led by a knowledgeable creative director. People who do not do this for a living simply can’t lead a creative team, nor should they be allowed to make the final decisions.
It’s like having a team of chefs preparing a buffet for an event. Imagine if the one who decides is someone who doesn’t cook professionally for a living? They would choose only the foods they prefer and are familiar with, completely (but sub-consciously) ignoring the fact that the buffet isn’t for them, but for the guests.
posted at 05:20 pm on January 16, 2011 by Andrei Gonzales
10
nice article Cassie, highlights both good techniques on how to turn around seemingly vague client criticism and also the importance of criticism as a way to foster collaboration.
@Andrei Gonzales – I’d agree that within an agency it’s best if those in the collaborative effort are experts in their field, but you’ll also get fantastic insights from a dev team reviewing a design (that will eventually need to be built) as well as from the creative director.
posted at 07:15 pm on January 16, 2011 by simonrjones
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1 Appreciative
Thank you for this very timely article. I’m right in the middle of a project and actually have submitted my unfinished design for critique. I appreciate the points made in this article, which help me to feel more confident about the whole creative process.
posted at 01:04 pm on January 11, 2011 by tofirius