Any creative who tells you that they don’t have a personal attachment to the work they produce is lying to you. When we create solutions to marketing challenges, we do so from a very personal basis. Sure, we use research or client information provided to us to come up with creative solutions, but regardless of where the information came from, the act of creating is always personal. We pour a little bit of ourselves into every project. The reality is that all designers, art directors, copywriters, illustrators, and so on infuse a little bit of their personality and aesthetics in all their work.
Because your team will consider their ideas and creations their babies—those cute little nuggets of creative thought that were once glimmers in their eyes who have grown, developed, and been placed on display full-frontal to the world—we must be cognizant of how we provide feedback about them. This chapter will go over ways to effectively evaluate—or critique (crit)—your team’s work. Critiquing work is important skill creative directors must develop because it can help the creative process. Likewise, neglecting to critique work or critiquing in a negative way can hinder the creative process.
Creatives who have survived design school or a creative sequence can sympathize with the pain that a critique can cause. When work is being critiqued, your team may feel as if their work is coming under attack. This is not the way to critique work. Critiques should be viewed as a positive aspect of the creative process. Your team should be inspired to go back and make edits. They should be challenged to try and adjust some of the content based on insights given during a critique. This chapter will help you ensure your critiques are neither horrific nor pointless (filled with unwarranted praise). Before we go into the process of critiquing, let’s go over a basic question: Why critique in the first place?
Why Critique?
The answer should be fairly obvious. As a creative lead, you cannot expect your team to adequately solve marketing challenges without the benefit of your insight or critique. There are independent or work-for-hire designers in the world (I refuse to use the f-word) or people who get into the creative field without formal training who knock things out on their own. They concept alone. They design alone. They judge their work and make edits alone. The problem with this singular frame of reference is that their ideas are limited to their specific knowledge and experience. I have always said, “Two heads are better than one. Four heads are better than two.” This thinking holds true for brainstorming, determining a design direction, and of course, critiquing work. It’s difficult to know if your work is the best it can be if you work alone and have no one to look at your work and provide constructive feedback.
Please understand that critiquing work isn’t a chance to tell someone how you would’ve designed the piece had you created it. It’s also not an opportunity to tell them that “not only does their design lack inspiration, but their mama dresses them funny.” The goal of a critique is to provide constructive feedback that inspires your creatives to polish up the work and explore alternate ways to solve the problem. A properly executed critique will allow your creative team to gain insights and perspectives beyond what they are capable of coming up with on their own. As a result it will push them to produce better solutions for your clients.
Are internal critiques with your account service team necessary?
Whether you are a creative lead in an agency or design studio, you are responsible for ensuring that the work produced by your team not only addresses a client’s needs, but also measures up to the standards of your organization.
Some creative leads really could care less what their teammates in Account Service have to say. They believe that the account executives (AEs) are mindless drones who merely pass on information from the client to the creative team. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Your AEs are the first line of communication. They are well-versed in what the client objectives are. You should take every opportunity to solicit information and opinions from your AEs. Ultimately the responsibility for deciding what to show the client rests on your shoulders, but do not make the mistake of thinking of yourself as a solitary creative island. Trust your AEs to help you navigate the sometimes choppy client waters to give your creative work an even better chance of surviving.
Is there value to internal critiques before showing work to the client?
An internal review of the creative work before it goes to the client is the best way to ensure your team is producing work that will address client challenges. Critiques are an excellent tool that should be included as a routine step in your creative development process.
Internal reviews conducted prior to presenting work to a client have quantitative and qualitative benefits which include the following:
Improves creativity
Elevates the quality of the work
Safeguards against “cookie-cutter” or completely wacked solutions that are strategically unsound
Ensures the messaging targets the right audience
Detects deficiencies early, allowing time for correction and improvement
How to Receive a Critique: A Grain of Salt
Everyone has to answer to someone. Even you, my friend. As creative lead you will receive critiques from agency management teammates as well as current and potential clients. When you are on the receiving end of a critique, it’s important to take both the bad and good feedback in stride. Remember that creativity isn’t math. There are no absolutely formulas to determine whether a creative idea is good or bad; there are only subjective opinions that may differ from one person to another. You need to be as receptive to criticism as you expect your team to be. Model the correct behavior.
That said, remember to focus on the reason for the critique—making your team’s work the best it can be. If you disagree with specific feedback, explain what the rationale was that led to the work in a thoughtful manner. You must also listen to what is being said. Try not to get defensive or take someone's criticisms personally.
Why Do Creatives Avoid Critiques?
Creative teams generally cringe at the idea of critiques. More often than not, critiques are unorganized, unfocused, waste time, and don't provide any real value. Some creatives fear evaluation because they don’t feel comfortable explaining their rationale or worse yet, they actually don’t have a rationale for their work. Others have experienced extremely harsh critiques that were not helpful or productive. Those who avoid critiques do so because they see them as an attempt at “policing” their work, which makes them feel as if they have no control.
As the creative director, remember that the members of your team insert their hearts and souls into developing their concepts, and they will generally take criticism personally if not done in a constructive way. When offering input, put yourself in their shoes, making sure your feedback is direct, simple, and tactful. Be specific on what works and what doesn’t work. If you don’t do this, you will demoralize your team and they will be less likely to be motivated to do their best work (Figure 7-1).
Figure 7-1. Critiquing your team’s work is a skill that must be developed
To help your team suppress their flight-or-fight response when faced with a critique, here is what you want to avoid:
Too much direction—nobody likes to have a dictator telling them what to do.
Intimidation—don’t be a jerk about it.
Being tactless—you will appear as if your judgment is subjective instead of objective.
Biased direction—will cause dissension among the ranks causing strife among your creative team.
Pushing your own creative agenda—squashes any motivation your team has to do their own work
Who Else Can Critique Work?
Try asking someone who is unfamiliar with the project to critique. They can come to the table having the benefit of not knowing what the task was or what the impetus was behind your solution. Sometimes an uninvolved third party can come up with insights and suggestions you haven’t considered before.
Who Is Really in the Hot Seat?
As the creative director, you may be feeling lots of pressure to come up with great suggestions, but keep in mind the person being critiqued is in a much more difficult position than the person doing the critiquing. A key insight to keep in mind is that every design has at least one good feature. You’ll have plenty of time to get to the things you think should be changed. Just make sure that you don’t make it up — be honest about what you do like, because no one wants to be patronized. In the following, I discuss that ways to critique positively.
Where Do You Begin?
It can sometimes seem daunting when you have a pile of work in front of you or hung on a wall to review. You may feel a bit overwhelmed. Breathe. Start by looking and listening. Look at the work. Ask questions. What information is being presented to you by your creative team? Are you looking at the work alone? Do you have the creative brief in front of you? Is your team providing you with a brief overview of their rationale for the work? What was their intention and inspiration?
Look at the work. Take it in. Analyze it. Ask questions.
The Truth Hurts… Sometimes
A good critique typically involves both positive and negative feedback, which can be tricky to navigate. Just as it’s important to strike the right balance of feedback, it’s important to give it in the right way. The sections that follow go over some common errors to spare you and your creatives the pain of enduring poorly delivered critiques.
“I Would Have Designed It Like This” Critique
Whether a design studio or advertising agency, the environment can occasionally be a somewhat hostile one. Creatives tend to be a competitive bunch who are in a constant state of competition. They are looking at their own work and comparing it to other work being produced by teammates. They are competing for recognition, awards, promotions, and overall growth in the department. Toss in a little designer moodiness and you’ve got a great recipe for hurt feelings, misunderstandings, and resistance to suggestions. Remember, even when we all receive the same information in the creative brief, because we are individuals, we will come up with different solutions. Yes, one team member would solve a marketing challenge differently than another, but that doesn’t mean each idea doesn’t have its own merits or that the ideas should be completely dismissed just because they weren’t executed the way you would have done. Don’t allow this “my way is the right way” rationale to serve as the fuel for this type of critique.
“Dive-Bomber” Critique
Many creative spaces are set in open environments. Open environments encourage collaboration and interaction. Another positive aspect of open environments is they keep people from spending their days on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Sounds like a great idea, right? Uh, sure. But there are also drawbacks.
It’s pretty common for any member of the agency to pass your work station, see a design, and provide unsolicited critiques such as, “Wow, I don't like that,” or “I have an idea of how you can make that better.” These random comments can be really annoying to your team as they work. Ask your agency mates to resist the urge to dive-bomb and kill your team’s ideas as they pass by. Your team is working through their process, and receiving unsolicited critiques while they design is neither constructive nor informative.
“Vague and Pointless” Critique
If the main point of a critique is to provide clear, constructive criticism that gives your creative team the ammunition to go back and improve their concept, then the vague and pointless (VP) critique is the exact opposite. The VP critique can range from overly dramatic (“OMG! I hate Zapfino! So many people are using that font on everything!”), to the simply unimportant (“I really think this looks kind of plain. Could you make it more designy?”). Remind your team (or agency mates who might take part in a crit) if they absolutely hate what they are seeing, it’s best to temper their comments. They can find a way to provide feedback on a less-than-favorable piece of work without completely demoralizing your creative team.
Critique the Right Way
Too many times, critiques fall into the what-not-to-do categories listed above. Why? Because people were never taught how to provide meaningful and useful feedback that inspires action. The basic technique is pretty simple: You start out saying something you like about the design to help put the designer at ease. Then move onto what you think could be improved. Phrase this in a constructive way — if something isn’t coming across as intended, let the designer know how it could be done better. The sections that follow offer a couple more hints that should help you critique in a positive way.
Understand the Parameters of the Assignment
If you are critiquing work and you don’t know what the client’s needs, objectives, and goals are, have your team give you a brief introduction to put them in context. Without some kind of insight into the marketing or communications challenges that are being addressed, your insight will be baseless and somewhat unhelpful. For example, you recommend that your team remove the color red from a design because it feels angry, only to find out red is the client’s brand color. In these cases, it’s better if you keep your comments and opinions to yourself than to recommend something that isn’t within the scope of the project.
Start with a Positive
To get things off on the right foot, I recommend starting your critique with at least three things you like about the work being presented. Providing positive feedback can help bolster the confidence of your creatives and help them to be more receptive to any changes or criticisms you might have. Starting with at least three positive things also makes you dig deeper into your mind and move away from providing gut reactions. Don’t ever base a critique on your personal preferences. Honestly, nobody cares what you like or don’t like. You will most likely not be in the target demographic so you need to keep your opinions objective and based on rational thought. Critiques based on research and insights will separate opinions from fact and open a dialog.
What Would You Improve?
You can’t simply run into a critique and toss grenades at everyone’s work. In other words, you can’t just list everything you don’t like about someone’s design. You should limit your discussion to what you think can be improved upon in the work. This helps keep the conversation fluid and it opens up a dialogue on the design. Additionally, it allows you to relay information to your team in a way that will give them the tools and means to improve their concept. Point out things like cliché phrases, and give tips on color palettes and their effect on mood, visual balance, white space, hierarchy, and so on.
If You Love It, Let Them Know
One of the worst things you can do is constantly provide negative feedback. When you do this your team will come to loathe your critiques. Don’t keep your focus on the negative aspects of what you’re reviewing. If you like something say so. Tell your creative team what you like and why you like it, and then wait for their response. This doesn’t mean you should praise poor work because it’s easier than offering insight or because you’re afraid of offending someone. Unnecessary praise can be as harmful as harsh criticism.
Keep the techniques outlined in this chapter in mind for more successful critiques with your creative team. If you do, they will appreciate your honesty without resenting the feedback you provide.
Know When to Draw the Line
Something that drives me crazy is when a critic begins their commentary with, “I like…” Any statement beginning with “I” is already too narrow. The person who should be helping you is now internalizing and making their opinions, likes, and dislikes part of their insight and feedback. There is a difference between a personal opinion and an unbiased critique. Make sure you separate the two.
Here’s a hint: start your sentence with the phrase, “I believe this does/doesn’t work as a solution to the assignment because…” This simple way of framing your critique, moves any statement you make away from a personal “I like or dislike” message to one that judges the work based on whether or not it solves the problem posed in the creative brief.
Give Them Something to Do
Give actionable critiques! If you know an alternative way to accomplish something, let your creatives know. Don’t just tell them what is wrong and expect them to go fix it. Give them ideas or point them in a direction that will help them develop solutions. Even if your team does not go with your suggestion verbatim, it could help them come up with their own solution to the problem.
Keep Things Objective: Stick to the Creative Brief
Use the creative brief to establish a context for critiques. The creative brief positions the work in the context of the assignment's objectives and gives you a tool for judging the effectiveness of the creative solutions. If you don’t use a creative brief as your measuring stick, the work will be judged on personal preference and ultimately result in meaningless feedback. Utilizing the creative brief as a measuring tool allows you to
Reiterate the problem to ensure the assignment objectives are not lost between the kick-off meeting and the critique.
Connect the challenge to objectives and address how the solution ties back to objectives.
Demonstrate how the problem was solved and support your creative recommendations with data points.
Critiques Should Evolve
Typically when a project is in its beginning stages, the critique goals and questions will be much different than when critiquing a project that is in its later phases. In the beginning there shouldn’t be micro-focus on the details. The questions and goals should help paint a picture with broad strokes.
Questions could include the following:
What are the main concerns that the client wants to address?
Are those concerns being adequately considered with these solutions?
Typical goals for these early critiques might include the following:
Obtain specific kinds of feedback about a set of different design approaches
Compare how several elements could work together
Discuss how the target audience will work through a design
Explore marketing solutions of competitors
Ask teammates with different job functions to provide feedback based on their expertise
As the project timeline progresses, the tone of the critique should change. There should be more solidified concepts and visuals to review.
During the later stages, the scope of the critique discussion should be decreased because issues and questions have already been resolved. Critiques at the later stages of a project should move to focusing on grammar, spelling, punctuation, color modes (CMYK vs. RGB), clarity of concept and imagery, use of specific typefaces, and so on.
Materials and Rooms
Depending on the kinds of designs you’ll be critiquing and the goals you have, you will want to handle any materials and the room you are critiquing in differently. The way you have the work displayed could significantly impact how it is received. In other words, you should not present work that will be presented to the general public in print via digital means and, in contrast, you should not present web banners as printouts. The following are several quick guidelines for the way in which you should consider presenting work to be critiqued.
Printed Work
For critiques of printed work (brochures, posters, direct mail, ads, etc.), printed samples of all elements to hand out to each person will work fine. There is some debate regarding whether elements should be rendered in a somewhat finished state or if they can be sketched. The manner in which you have the work presented should be based on the visualization skills of the people critiquing. If there are other creatives in the room who can visualize finished projects by merely looking at scribbles and talking through ideas, then sketches will work fine. If you are in a room full of people who do not have the visualization ability to see beyond the scribble to imagine the finished product, then you should present work that is mocked-up to appear almost final.
Out-of-Home
A print of all out-of-home (OOH) executions, such as billboards, bus wraps transit shelter posters and so on, mounted on the wall would work well. Remember, people seeing the actual OOH when in place will most likely be reviewing it at speed. They will not have an ample amount of time to scrutinize every element of the design. Keep that in mind as the people critiquing begin to discuss things like the amount of copy on the board (of lack thereof).
Broadcast or Web
It only makes sense that elements created for use on TV (TV spots) or on the Web (websites, digital banners) should be reviewed on a TV or a monitor, right? The bright, vibrant colors selected and used on broadcast or the Web can’t be adequately displayed in all of their vibrancy because print dulls down the colors. Be sure that if any work is being created to be consumed by your target audience in the digital realm, it should be reviewed digitally.
What Kind of Room Should You Use?
The size of the room in which you hold your critique session isn’t as important as access to a whiteboard or something to write on. You’ll want to utilize a room where you can minimize distractions and keep everyone focused. Ideally you’ll also have a television monitor so you can project the digital or TV work for everyone to review at once. If not, you should at least have a laptop available to use as a display.
In a Nutshell
Critiques can be fun or they can be painful. Some agencies or design studios don’t call them critiques. They simply call meetings to go over concepts. Call them whatever you want, it really doesn't matter. What does matter is that you have them. If you have a team who communicates well critiques might happen anywhere—from the hallway to the break room to the coffee shop. Critiques are key to being able to benchmark the progress of your team’s creative development. Evaluating your team’s creative work is a routine part of your process that will lead to positive results only for your team, but also for your clients and your company.