Sunday, April 10, 2011

Snobby Bobby and Fair Blair


Bobby scoffs at Comic Sans and clipart. Bobby looks on the bulletin boards and analyzes the flyers. Bobby criticizes the kerning on the dry cleaning tickets. Bobby says (s)he could have made a better logo. Bobby defends his/her designs to the death even if another approach hasn’t been tried. Bobby gets offended and even takes it personally when peers give him/her constructive criticism.

Blair understands that not everyone has received the education (s)he has. Blair appreciates the use of Futura on the menu. Blair likes using Helvetica sometimes but finds a lot of beauty in a chunky serif. Blair tries a lot of different ideas out before settling on the best. Blair gives honest and constructive advice to peers and thoughtfully heeds to the advice given to her/him.

Maybe you’re like Bobby. Maybe you’re like Blair. Perhaps you’re a little of both or neither at all. Any which way, many designers struggle with ego and honesty. Respectful honesty is an important part of being a designer. It can take a lot of courage. We don’t want to offend anyone, we don’t want to criticize someone’s project that they’ve put their sweat and tears into, and we don’t want people to think we’re jerks. But I’d much rather hear someone’s honest opinion during critique than a meaningless comment about how it looks nice. It’s also important to remember, as several of you mentioned in your comments last week, that many people don’t have the knowledge and training we do. So don’t let your ego get so big that you can’t distinguish the proper time and place for critique. Try your best to be fair, and if you must be snobby, be snobby with your best friend, not your colleague.

16 comments:

  1. Being a designer does require respectful honesty. All of us may have had times when we just kept quite during critique, but really we should have spoke up to give criticism toward helping out someone's design.

    I try and remember the significance of a critique. "A critique is an honest, subjective opinion about another’s creative work that covers a variety of issues including, but not limited to, subject matter, representation, and technique, with the intent of: a) assisting the artist in his or her personal development, b) helping to develop the attitude and discerning eye of both artist and critic, and c) beginning or continuing a constructive discourse beneficial to the general art community."

    We all know critiques require thought and time, and they can be pretty exhausting. I feel you need a lot of practice to create your own critiquing style.

    We may all had that time also, when on occasion you receive a great comment on something you’ve spent three weeks, and then receive a negative evaluation from someone else. It is something that we as designers need to learn to deal with. Well will always be surrounded by criticism, but the more we receive now, the better we will be for handling it in the future.

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  2. Okay, first time is a no-show in the comment. As I said, here, here. There is no benefit to being a snob, especially in a business where word of mouth is important.

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  3. It's always hard to when you want to give people the criticism that you think will really help them, but you don't know if they will be offended. I myself like people to tell me what they really think because tip toeing around it doesn't help anyone, but you are right I would be hurt if I put my blood into work and people didn't like it. Criticism can definitely be personal because your work is personal, but I don't think there's any right time to be a snob.

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  4. I totally agree with Sheri about criticism. I tend to get really personal with my work and I do like criticism but I feel that there is a thin line between criticism that is constructive and criticism that is offensive. Not everyone has to like what you are doing but I do feel like if there is any way that we can help each other become better designers through criticism it is definitely a good thing. Being a snob is not a way that will help others or yourself.

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  5. Agreed. I think most of us by know by now that there is a difference with being offensive and constructive, hopefully. I think it is best for a person who is trying to critique is really put the art in context of the artist themselves and his/her intent rather than to their own personal preferences, idea, or art.

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  6. I think criticism is crucial to growing as a designer. It can be awkward telling someone that an element of a project isn't working, but I think in the end, being in this field we all appreciate it. I wouldn't want my work to go out there and its actually awful because people were too afraid to tell me that it needed revision. I appreciate constructive criticism and I think it's very important part of the learning process.

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  7. This is a good life lesson, in any field. Your talent may (or may not) make you a better designer than Joe Public, but it doesn't make you a better person. There's no portfolio that can make up for having a salty personality.

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  8. Sometimes it's good to be snobby, but also understanding!

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  9. This is a good point to make, but everyone views things differently so it is always best to take different viewpoints into perspective because we could actually learn something from that person's feedback that we never considered before.

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  10. I think like Jess said, sometimes you have to be snobby but understanding. And you also have to learn when to say something about your opinion or keep it to yourself and have it help build your own work! (i.e. I really didn't like ____ design, I'll make sure to never do that!)


    PS: what is that Honesty image from?

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  11. Communication is key here, we all don't have to agree on one thing or certain aspects in design, but it's all about how we go about the communication process. If we don't communicate well then we can come across as snobbish or pretentious in certain situations.

    Unless....one intends to be a snob, but really thats no fun for anybody and pointless in the long run. C'mon people just be nice : )

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  12. I agree with what most of you have already said. But I feel that anyone does not like to get criticized even though we all do it. I agree that sometimes I feel that I forget to remember that not everyone knows what kerning is or that Comic Sans is still a preference. It is just hard to deal with when we are a visual culture and everything that is advertized is visual. However, critique is an important part of any process (music, architecture, sports, etc.) we just have to remind ourselves that it is not personal.

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  13. I think Lili has a good point about us being in a visual culture, that at some point everything, by nature, will be criticized. But, we need to have the ability to properly articulate ourselves productively and beneficially to others. I feel as though this is a skill just as important as our own design skills.

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  14. I agreed with the above comments I would definitely like to hear an honest opinion rather than something said to be rude or hurtful even if you don't like it theres no need for personal attacks.

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  15. I think one of the hardest thing to learn as a designer is how to take feedback and use it in a constructive way. Also, love the illustration!

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