With over 10 years of working experience in this industry, I have received countless design feedback about my work. Today, I am going to share with you the best (and worst) ways to share your feedback with your designers, hopefully helping you get your project to go in the direction you want it to go.
Writing the changes in short sentences and in point forms.
Writing the changes in short sentences and in point forms is essential. I would say that most graphic designers are visual animals, meaning we can’t handle a lot of text. So it would be wise to keep your comments short and sweet. Adding bullet points keeps everything neat and minimizes the risk of your designer overlooking the changes that need to be done.
Do this.
- move logo to the top left.
- change this blue to Green instead.
Don’t do this.
I think the logo is not working in this location because it is too near to the image at the bottom, and I would want it to have more breathing space around it. So maybe shift it slightly nearer to the top and then a little bit to the left side. And this blue is not vibing with me; it reminds me of the sea, which I am not very fond of. I was thinking more in the sense of green, like a fresh grass green.
Help us to visualise
Sometimes it will be great if you can send us some visual samples of what you are referring to. It is really difficult to describe a look and feel that you are going for. Like, for example, you want your logo to look classy and elegant, but there are many different types of classy and elegant.
This could be classy and elegant to you but not to me…
This could be classy and elegant to me but not to you.
So on and so forth. Instead of letting your designer keep trying to guess where you are going with this, show some visual samples. That will give us a clearer idea of what you are trying to say. And don’t worry about us COPYING the logo (GASP!). A good professional graphic designer knows his or her boundaries.
Don’t give vague responds.
When a graphic designer sends you their mock and it’s not working for you, don’t just say, “This is not working for me; can you propose again?” Let us know what is not working for you. Give us more context on why you rejected the mock so that we will know how to improve this further. Get on a call with us and let us know your thoughts.
Don’t be wishy washy.
Say you have received the mocks and what you see is really not what you are looking for, and you have to give some negative feedback and you are worried about hurt feelings. Well, don’t be! Seriously, we are grown adults. Just let us have it. Tell us it is not good and you are looking for something else. This will help everyone along and get to the right place quicker.
Don’t text us long changes.
This is one of my pet peeves actually.
It is fine if it is just 1 or 2 simple changes. Like “change this color here” “shift that there” But if you have feedback on an 8-page brochure and you have comments on every page, please oh please don’t send the changes through WhatsApp. It is confusing and very difficult to track.
Remember, clear communication speeds up the design process and ensures better outcomes for your project.