Hey Reader,
Today, I’m going to show you a simple framework you can follow when critiquing creative work.
Not only will this help you grow as a creative, but it also works when you lead creative teams… or when you become the client.
A great critique can change the your world.
Being good at critiquing creative work can supercharge your next project, your professional relationships, and your career.
It’s the key to leading a successful creative team as a creative or art director.
It’s the secret to drawing great work out of creatives you hire.
It’s also the secret to receiving feedback from people who may not know how to give a great critique.
But even though it’s so important… critiquing is not a skill we focus on building.
That is a tragedy.
But I can also understand why: For many of us, our first exposure to critical feedback was… not fun.
I remember feeling exposed. Embarrassed. Angry. I didn’t understand why the client felt like they could tell me, a “professional,” what I needed to do to make my work “good enough.”
I didn’t feel valued.
The feedback made me feel like a piece of hardware. I felt like they just wanted to tell me what they wanted, and I was supposed to move the pixels around for them.
It’s why we hate the phrase, “Make the logo bigger.”
Even though critical feedback like this can be hard to hear, there is one type of critique that’s even worse:
“Looks good.”
Or… heaven forbid:
“I like it.”
Getting this feedback is like slipping into a tepid bath. You’re not convinced if the work is good or bad. You’re not sure if they’re just too busy to use more words, or if they secretly hate it… and you.
You don’t learn or grow.
We hate receiving feedback like this. But many of us fall into this same pattern when it’s our turn to critique.
We give bad critiques, we get subpar work, and the cycle continues.
But it doesn’t have to: critiquing is a skill we can learn.
I’m not a big believer in college for creatives… and I never went to design school. But my friends who did are incredible at giving feedback on creative work.
Like Matthew Encina and Greg Gunn.
For a self-taught person like me, watching these two giving feedback on creative work was like getting a free inside look at a six-figure education.
Here’s what I learned from watching them (and leading creative teams for over a decade):
- Review the objective
- Begin with the positive
- Identify gaps and opportunities
- Close with affirmation
Review the objective
Kick off every critique by summarizing what the mission was.
Sometimes, even the best creatives will get derailed by a great idea and lose site of the primary objective. By reviewing this at the start of the critique, you have a shared foundation of truth.
Sometimes, simply refreshing your shared understanding is enough: they may recognize right off the bat where they missed the mark (or why they nailed it).
Here’s the script:
“Ok before we dig in, let’s recap the creative brief…
[insert more detail here]
…we’re all on the same page, yes? Anyone have a different understanding?”
Once you’re speaking the same language, it’s time to give feedback.
Begin with the positive
It’s tempting to jump right in to the critical part. I get it!
You worked your entire career to arrive at this point. You’ve collected all of the infinity stones and now you can destroy the hopes and dreams of your underlings with a snap of your fingers.
But hold up.
Before we go there, you have to find the thing that works about the work in front of you.
It might be tough… but it’s there.
I promise you, there’s something there that you can compliment. Maybe it’s not the logo. Maybe it’s the color palette. Maybe it’s not the pacing. Maybe it’s the sound editing.
There is something.
Just in case you’re faced with a particularly difficult critique, here are a few no brainers you can toss in there:
- Did they work hard on what they made?
- Did the work meet the brief, at least?
- Did the work spark a good emotion?
Starting with the positive is not only an excellent exercise in truly seeing creative work, but it also frames any critical feedback as fair and equitable.
Speaking of critical feedback…
Identify gaps and opportunities
Giving critical feedback that doesn’t deflate the receiver like an old birthday balloon is an art form. It is powerful enough to make or break someone’s creative spirit.
And with great power comes great responsibility.
But I’ve got three tips that can help your negative feedback cause a positive change:
No 1. Do not hold back. Be honest.
Whenever I have critical feedback to give… I don’t want to.
I want to lift someone up as high as possible. I don’t find it fun to tell someone that they missed the mark, or that their work is crap, or that they have a lot more work ahead.
But that’s what you have to do.
Without honest feedback, not only will the work suffer… they will too. Honest, direct, criticism helps creatives grow. It sparks new ideas. It pushes the work to places it otherwise wouldn’t.
But… be kind.
No 2. Do not be biased. Be objective.
Unless the work is for you, personally, your personal preferences have no business in a professional critique. I don’t care if you hate drop shadows, or a brutal aesthetic, or the color green.
That stuff doesn’t help anyone.
Remain objective by focusing on the objective. Hold the work against the mission, the brief, the end user, and the client/stakeholder.
Keep personal biases at bay and stay objective.
No 3. Do not prescribe. Diagnose.
Remember that one crit you got that made you feel like you were an extension of Creative Cloud? An order taker? A pixel pusher?
Yeah… don’t give that kind of feedback.
Don’t tell the creative how to fix the work. Help them identify what the problems are. Help them develop new ideas on where to go next.
Diagnose… don’t prescribe.
This can be a tricky balance to strike. One framework that can help us process our initial thoughts consists of two prompts: gaps and opportunities.
Gaps are problems. Things we expected to see, hear, feel, or experience that we didn’t. It’s the color palette that wasn’t exciting or vibrant enough. It’s the lack of emotion in the way a video is edited.
Opportunities are ideas. New directions we weren’t considering until we saw the work in front of us. Combinations no one has considered yet. Conceptual approaches that feel more like “Yes, and…” instead of “No.”
Remember: be specific, not prescriptive.
Instead of “Make the logo bigger,” ask, “Is there a way we can make the logo more prominent? It seems to disappear.”
Instead of “Here, try this color palette,” say, “The colors here feel stuffy, solemn, and too serious. Can you work on a new palette that is a little more fresh, bright, but still natural?”
Instead of “Don’t use Papyrus,” say, “How dare you. Who do you think you are? What gives you the right? Get out of my office.”
Joking… mostly.
But, you get the idea. Give them something to create from, not a set of instructions. Push their creativity, not their mouse hand.
Close with affirmation
OK, so this looks a lot like the “critique sandwich” that we all know and love. Open and close with positive notes, while the critical stuff makes up the middle.
But I’ve got a twist here.
If you’re in a position to be giving a creative critique, you’re likely in a position of leadership. Even if it’s only for a moment. And if you’re going to lead, don’t suck.
A good leader motivates. A great leader inspires.
When you close a creative critique, inspire your team to rally with you. You’re here to make something amazing. Remind them of that.
Remind them why they’re here. Remind them that it might suck to go back to the drawing board (literally), but in doing so, the work is going to be that much better.
Remind them that you believe in them, and that you appreciate the hard work they do.
Remind them that they are valuable.
In conclusion
If you run your next critique like this, you will leave with an inspired team, brimming with new creative ideas and buzzing with excitement for the next round.
Hopefully.
More realistically, you’ll leave with creatives who don’t hate getting feedback from you.
And that can mean everything.
So… just a reminder: Review the objective, then begin with the positive. Identify gaps and opportunities, and, finally, close with affirmation.
Your action item: Try this format this week. If you don't have an official critique, practice with a friend. Seek out a peer and swap critiques on your work (Communities like my Accelerator make this super easy). Try it - and lemme know how it goes.
I hope that helps :)
Critically yours,
Ben Burns
P.S. They don’t actually hate you.
P.P.S. If you’re feeling froggy, you can actually use this format to review work with your clients. Just change each headline into a question (e.g. “What works well with this?”)
P.P.P.S. When you’re receiving a poorly run critique, ask “why.” If the stakeholder wants you to make the logo bigger, ask them why! Maybe they feel like the logo isn’t important enough. From there, you can make an alternative suggestion to make it feel more important.
So... did this earn a cup of coffee?
The best way you can say thanks is to chip in for a cup of coffee and keep the caffeine flowing. Appreciate you.
|