So you’ve hired a graphic designer, now how do you give them helpful feedback on that new logo? What about a brochure or annual report? Here are five easy ways to provide your graphic designer with helpful feedback and ensure that you get a great end result, every time.
Be specific and problem-oriented
This may sound contradictory, but your designer wants you to focus on and describe the problems. This can be literally anything you see or feel is problematic for any reason! Creating designs for your business can be emotional and tricky. Your designer doesn’t doubt that you have strong feelings about designs, you just might not know how to communicate them. That’s why your designer is here to help you and interpret. All feedback is good feedback, but good feedback is better. Letting your designer know you don’t like the color is helpful, but letting them know why you don’t like that color is better. This allows the designer to solve your problem the best way they know how: creatively. If you offer up vague solutions to their design they may start to feel boxed in or unclear on how to proceed.
Don’t let your emotions hold you back
If something about the design isn’t what you were envisioning, say so! Yes, designers put a lot of effort into their work, but they want to help you create a design you will love. And…they won’t know how you feel unless you tell them what you’re thinking. You won’t offend them or their work as long as you’re polite and willing to talk about what’s not working.
If you like something, say it like this
It’s easy to focus on what’s not working in a creative piece. But if you like one color, or the font, or an image, let your designer know. This will allow them to get a better insight into what you like and allow them to ask more questions to create a full design you’re going to love. One helpful way to structure your feedback is in the form of “likes” and “wishes.”
For example:
- I really like that color blue on this version of the logo
- I wish that the color was more prominent throughout the entire logo design
- I like when there are bright pops of colors, just like on this version of the logo
- I wish that the words were larger, they are too small on this version of the logo
Be prepared to explain your thinking
Designers are always looking for meaning and reasons behind design decisions. It’s likely they are going to want to know more about what you’re thinking. This allows them to understand you and help find something you like. So if you do say you want a color to pop, tell them why! Do you just like colorful logos? Let them know.
Say what you mean
Clear feedback helps designers from misinterpreting confusing or vague feedback. To make sure your feedback isn’t confusing, it’s helpful to say what you mean. For example, if a logo design just isn’t working and you want it to be more “playful and magical,” tell your designer what those words mean to you. Does that mean, a curvy font or more curved lines? Is it a rainbow color palette? Is it an image of a happy child? Be specific about what that means to you.
And that’s it! Those are your top five tips for providing graphic design feedback. As you can see, this could take some practice. However, just keep in mind that any graphic designer wants to create the best end result possible. If you’re nervous to tell them you don’t like something, don’t be! This is your project too. Design is meant to be a collaborative process, so embrace it. And if you need a little logo design help? Holler at us.
