A Critical Assessment – Tips for Clients to Give Logo Designers Feedback

Here is what one of Pixar’s co-founders Ed Catmull says about feedback:

“Feedback requires candor, trust, and empathy.”

He is right in all honesty. Giving feedback and receiving it is a key and natural part of collaboration. We all give feedback at any point to anyone, be it our spouse for how they cook, our children for how they did their homework, employees for how they did their work, and vice versa.

Giving feedback is one thing. Giving good feedback is another thing. This is important when clients give designers feedback. Giving designers worthwhile design feedback helps avoid toxicity. There are memes and stereotypes about clients heckling and pestering designers over design revisions and the like. 

Proper feedback with the right etiquette helps create an honest, productive, and respectful feedback loop between designers, their leads/managers, and clients. That leads to a properly executed vision.

Is finesse important when giving feedback?

Giving designers constructive and useful feedback does require finesse and a wholesome amount of people skills. Miscommunication, wrong directions, and usage of vague language can easily overturn a successful creative review. They even ruin the approval process. 

The Outcome? A waste of time and unwanted friction between all stakeholders involved.

There is a problem: Very few companies prioritize this the way they should. However, even fewer creative team leads understand the way effective feedback should be given to graphic and logo designers. They cannot train team members in this regard.

Can such kind of a problem be solved? Yes, it can! We aim to resolve this issue in this post and see why clients should give effective feedback to designers and how team leads can implement this in their design teams.

What to avoid when communicating feedback to graphic and logo designers?

Designers do make mistakes. Their process is usually based on trial and error. No designer should ever feel low because the stereotype is that clients berate designers even for minor things. On average, designers go through 24 failures to get the design/work done right. 

The logo design cost usually does not matter when clients give feedback on the work. They should have some empathy and understanding of the work. Here are some things clients must avoid when communicating feedback to clients:

Avoid saying I like it/I don’t like it

This phrase and other phrases in this category have been used many times regarding design work. This is not a good thing to do. It is equivalent to passing a judgment instead of assessing arguments. It also does not communicate if any issue needs resolution. Rather it is about satisfaction of personal preferences. 

This can make a designer irate and also make them doubt their skills. They then have to start using their guessing skills and that is a distraction.

Avoid predicting a designer’s behavior

No one can ever predict anyone else’s behavior. People themselves cannot predict their behavior. When clients do such a thing, designers cancel working for them and start working for another client.

No client should ever make a guess and tell designers how to do their work

No client should ever make a guess. They cannot tell them to move this element to that side and vice versa. They need to express their requirements clearly or else ruin everything with designers. Not all designers are good at guessing. This causes friction and this is why clients must state all requirements clearly. 

Other factors that ruin client/designer relationships 

Clients are at times afraid of giving designers feedback that is critical yet honest and productive. It happens due to the following factors:

• Clients lack the budget and/or time.
• They have had enough of one designer and want to work with another one.
• Clients feel compelled to criticize a particular piece of work.
• Clients sometimes are asked to critique the work of colleagues, well-paid specialists, or amateurs. They and their peers have varying opinions on various matters.

How should clients do it? Effective tips for them to give designers wholesome feedback

No doubt communication is key. Clients can give graphic and logo designers feedback that they will love whether it’s about appreciation, revision, or another thing. Professionals from a well-known agency of Logo Design Dubai have decided to share some worthwhile tips that can help foster better relationships between clients, designers, agencies, and the like.

Limiting the feedback to a small circle

Regardless of whether both client and designers are in the early stages of the logo design project or in the midst (or ending), it is in the best interests of both sides to limiting the feedback to a few key people. Sharing initial designs with a lot of people leads to conflicting opinions, especially from those who do not know the moodboarding and tactical planning behind the design.

Giving Designers a specific set of directions and instructions for getting the work done

Clarity is everyone’s ally when it comes to giving feedback. Kindness also works. No vague feedback is supportive. If for instance the typeface isn’t worth the mood, clients must give designers specific feedback, instructions plus directions regarding what they want. If they have a certain shade in mind, they should share a reference image. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Visual Aids are powerful

Visual Aids are wonderful. A picture, sketch, or screenshot can help clients overcome communication gaps and show designers what they want to be designed. It also helps them articulate their ideas. They make feedback more tangible and help designers understand things easily. This makes the process much smoother.

As mentioned earlier, clients giving designers clear and considerate feedback works wonders

Clients should be clear and considerate in their feedback. If they feel something in the design doesn’t feel right, they can identify it and provide suggestions on making it look better. They must not use any ambiguous and casual terms (like off, weird, etc.) as using formal language is always better. Communication that is clear and direct makes the difference between revisions and the final design.

Being realistic and focusing on the bigger picture eases many things

Keeping realistic expectations about the logo is always important. It may not win people instantly but a properly-designed logo makes its own place over time. Though the audience wasn’t involved in the design process and tactic formulation behind the logo, they could have an emotional reaction to it (albeit slowly).

But a logo that is impressive, professional, and unique will gradually build a company’s relationship with its audience over time.

Conclusion

A logo is part of a brand’s bigger story. That story also includes the website, social media channels, business collateral, and the like. All of these elements work together in sync and create a robust brand. Making a logo unique and unforgettable is indeed important. It is also worth understanding that achieving realistic objectives works wonders too.