If you’ve ever been in the position to offer design feedback to a graphic or web designer, you know that giving great design feedback is a delicate, yet crucial part of any collaborative design process. 

Receiving feedback is a natural part of any design process and your designer will expect you to provide some at some point. 

So, how do you make sure you’re giving constructive feedback?

1) Be honest and upfront about your thoughts.

The whole reason we designers ask for feedback is only to improve the design and make sure we nail your vision! Your input and opinions are a vital part of the project and outcome. 

You may feel apprehensive about sharing constructive criticism, however, the sooner we know what you’re thinking, the better we are equipped to fix it. A word of advice, don’t ever put your feelings aside just to make your designer more comfortable. We encourage you to be kind and respectful in speaking your mind and the last thing we want to do is end up with a design you don’t love because you never expressed your opinion. 

2) Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Sometimes a design can come across as confusing or perhaps there was a miscommunication along the way. Please ask questions! Clarifying your concerns can easily be done by asking questions. Oftentimes miscommunication happens simply because either party is using different terminology or word choice to describe what they’re thinking. Asking questions can help to smooth any bumps before the design makes it to the final version. 

3) Be clear and descriptive.

Statements like “make it pop” or “I’m not feeling it” can be pretty frustrating from a designer’s standpoint. Communication has many subtitles, so the more clear and detailed you can be the better. Being direct with your feedback will keep the project quickly moving in a forward direction.

It’s possible that you may have an opinion on a certain design component but you’re not sure how to articulate exactly what it is you don’t like or would rather see instead. In cases like this, it’s better to say more than not enough. 

All we can say is try to be as descriptive as you can about color, sizing, layout, etc. 

If you can find visual examples of what you’re referring to, that’s even better.

4) Explain problems, don’t give solutions.

As a problem solver myself, I can relate to this one a lot. In fact, I think a lot of people can because it is one of the most popular offenders on this list. When you’re supplying design feedback, don’t get too caught up in the end result, it’s your designer’s job to get you there with the best results. 

In other words, instead of focusing on how to solve the problem, tell your designer why it is a problem. This allows your designer the creative freedom they need to come up with the best solution.

5) Be realistic and review the project scope.

As the client, your opinion and feedback are crucial to the success of the project as a whole. We want you to be happy with the end result, however, remember to be realistic with your requests. Sometimes a design can spark new ideas that fall out of the project scope. While ultimately, this isn’t an issue, understand that there may be changes in cost and timeline. 

Whether it be website design or branding projects, our clients hold an extremely important piece to the puzzle. 

At the end of the day, communication between designer and client is the foundation for a successful design project.

Be kind but be honest about your feedback and we wish you the best of luck on your next design project.