Design Feedback
Design feedback is when a client gives you a detailed analytical critique on Graphic Design work that has been delivered to them as part of a design brief. It is a valuable way for a company and a designer to align on the core message that a brand is trying to convey.
These guidelines on how to take design feedback will help you navigate the professional relationship with your client and providing the best designs and service you can give. Building trust and respect with a client is vital to landing repeat work from them. So the following guide will ultimately make you more money!
Remove ego from design work
Sometimes I will see a Graphic Designer who gets caught up with their design work and attaches their own Ego into it. So when it comes to taking feedback from a client they get very defensive about changing their concept. This kind of attitude can ultimately lose clients as you can be perceived as difficult to work with. It’s important to remember that you are providing a service to your client and that ultimately it is their business needs that need to be met. I have found that leaving my emotional state at the door when I work is vital. No matter how long I have worked on a design, I will always try to maintain a level, matter-of-fact demeanor when taking feedback. Because this is not my pride and joy, this is just a design that my client needs.
Use feedback to help guide a client to better design choices
As designers, we can help guide our clients into making the right choices for their brands, help them deliver clear well thought out messages that will elevate their brand to new heights. We should take on their feedback and then guide them into how that feedback is turned into a professional design that benefits them as a client. One mistake I see often is Graphic Designers confuse a design workflow with that of an artist workflow. When you receive a brief and then are paid to complete that brief, that is Graphic Design. When you undertake a personal project with no outside direction, that is art. With art you can take it in any direction you wish, there are no wrong choices and no one can tell you otherwise. It is a personal expression that you can enjoy creating. When it comes to Graphic Design, however, taking other people’s feedback into account is vital to creating designs that truly work for your client. It is this distinction between Art and Design that some designers forget. Always remember that Graphic Design is not art, that taking feedback from your client is part of the design process, and that you can guide them into making better design choices for the business.
Feedback helps build your clients brand
The feedback round that you complete for your client will bring your design work closer to the brand vision that your client has. It could be that the design choices they make might not make complete sense to you at the moment, but it could be that their vision for the brand they are building is wider than you can see in this one design. It’s worth keeping this in mind when reading through the feedback because most brands will have a strategy for where they want their brand to be and how their message is delivered. And it could be that they need to test out a few different ways before landing on the strategically correct way that will allow them to reach their business goals.
Create manageable tasks from the feedback
When you open the email from the client and the list of feedback is scrollable – it can get stress-inducing quickly. Set aside a few minutes to read through the feedback. Organize it into quick wins vs longer amends. If there are any parts that are unclear to you then isolate them and ask for clarification immediately. You want to know the full scope of the amends as soon as possible, if there was something you were unsure on and left it a while before asking about it, you could find yourself with a horrible surprise of far more work than you anticipated. Once you have your list organized, find the few things that are the hardest and most time-consuming. Do these first and do them fast. If you want a guide on how to design fast then take a read of our Design Fast tutorial here. We want to clear the hardest stuff quickly, because then as the day goes by and our energy gets less, the tasks are becoming easier. The biggest tip I can give you is don’t put the tasks off, attack them systematically and that way they will not overwhelm you.
Put feedback rounds into your personal design process
I have created a three version system for delivering client design work. This process includes the feedback rounds – this way they are not something I avoid or dread but something I expect to happen and that I anticipate in my design work.
The design process breaks down is as follows:
- Sketch – create thumbnail sketches before you begin designing
- The first initial design of Version 1
- Feedback from the client on Version 1
- Create Version 2 based on feedback from Client
- Feedback from the client which at this point should be relatively minor
- Submit the third version design as final
Having a process like this means that you are systematic in the way you deliver your design work. You are not going to be caught off guard by feedback rounds, in fact you expect them. This is how you will create on-point professional work and also maintain a great working relationship with your client.
Dealing with conflicting statements
Clients can often give conflicting visual feedback, for instance the client might say, ‘I really want this design to be modern and bright but please only use this Serif font and the colors black and grey.’ These are two conflicting visual statements that we need to clarify before we can move forward. I have an entire career of these strange conflicting feedbacks from clients. I find it best to ask them if they have seen any designs which are similar to the one that we are trying to create and that they could show me. This way we are giving them input into what the design looks like and also getting an insight into the kind of designs that this person likes. Which can be vital. If they do not give you any reference imagery then it might be that you have to get creative with how you solve that problem. So taking out an example of modern and bright with dark and traditional text. Perhaps the modern and bright aspect can come from the Photos and imagery that we use. Bright colorful photos placed on a black background using the client’s Serif font. There’s usually a middle ground to find, but it can be tricky to do so.
Providing a service
Ultimately you are providing a service to your clients and undertaking feedback rounds is part of that service. You can protect yourself from never-ending feedback rounds by stipulating in a contract that the client will only have three rounds of feedback before it will cost them extra. If you follow the design process that I have listed above then you should be able to keep your feedback rounds to being a manageable task but it can become daunting at times. You can request extensions to your deadlines if you feel that the feedback will take you past the deadline date of the project.
How you respond will determine whether your client will want to work with you in the future. Respond calmly, and professionally. Never let your personal opinions about whether the client is right or wrong filter into your responses. Build on their feedback or try to guide them into a better decision. You can
Respond calmly
If in doubt, respond calmly. Even if the feedback seems far too much, keep being professional throughout. You do not want to lose a client from any misunderstandings or potential future work from clients that get recommended to you. It’s better to step away for ten minutes to compose yourself and then to respond.
When to call it quits on feedback rounds
A few years back I had this one client who was brand new to me that was a perfect example of an awful client. They wanted an album cover designed and they had written out a brief, and I had asked for image references to be sure that we were on the same wavelength. I created the first version of the cover and waited for the first round of feedback changes. When it came back it was a massive list. Far more feedback than I was expecting for such a simple project. They wanted a huge amount of control over every aspect which becomes hard to manage. The feedback rounds went into the dozens and each time the list was just as long as they were changing the brief as they went. Entire assets were added and taken away, with completely different colorways and branding changes. The first design to the ultimate final was so vastly different that you wouldn’t think it would be the same brief given. After around a month I decided that this was enough feedback rounds. That actually the money being made here was not worth it and so I called it quits. I sent the client all the files and said that I would give them a discount to end the project. They accepted. This is the first time I have had to end a relationship with a client in this way. I think that smaller clients, such as small business owners, musicians, sole traders in general can be tougher clients to work with because the business is their passion and pride and joy, so they want endless amounts of control and never know when to stop.
I tend to always go for mid to large businesses when looking for Graphic Design work as it usually solves this problem. You are hardly ever dealing with the owner of the business. You are dealing with the lead marketing person or salespeople. And therefore hopefully will never end up in the situation I found myself in a never-ending feedback loop.
If a project gets too much, and you feel that the client has taken more time than it is worth to you. Then it could be time to call it quits and move on to the next project.