We use Redpen to post proofs on your project. Providing feedback on Redpen is fast and easy. You just need to click on the image that you want to comment on and then type your feedback into the message box that appears next to the image. When you are done typing in your feedback, click the “Post This Comment” button to publish and save your feedback near the image. From there, you can move on to the next comment and repeat the same process.
Tips for Providing Feedback on Creative Projects
It can be difficult to provide creative feedback that is specific and detailed if you are not a creative person yourself. For example, someone who knows very little about photography or Graphics might have trouble describing what they don’t like about a particular image. So, they might provide vague feedback like “punch up the colors” or “I don’t like yellow.” These types of generalized comments are not specific enough for a creative person to understand or action. The designer needs to know the specifics of what must be changed or altered. Otherwise, it will just be a constant process of them guessing and uploading new proofs that don’t meet your needs.
To provide the right kind of feedback, you need to explain what you are not happy about and why you are not happy about it. The more information provided that will help the designer understand the problem, the better chance they will have of fixing the problem to your satisfaction. And better yet; come up with a solution you may not have thought of!
Refer to the creative brief you provided at the start of your project and use that to help explain your feedback reasoning. This will give the designer a much clearer understanding of where you’re coming from and why something they did was wrong.
The Four Questions to Ask Yourself
Try to remember that you are working with a designer, not mind readers. Your emotions, thoughts, and personal tastes are going to be different than theirs. For this reason, you both need to be on the same page when it comes to the objective of the design. This is the only way your feedback will resonate with the designer. If you keep changing directions or forget what your objective is, then you will lose the designer and then nothing will ever get accomplished.
Therefore, ask yourself the following 4 questions before you leave feedback for the designer:
- – What objective do I want to achieve with this design?
- – What features of the current concept coincide with my objective for it?
- – Are these features truly effective or can they be replaced?
- – Why are they or why aren’t they effective?
When you first look at the design, you may forget about these questions and judge it merely by how you feel in that moment when you are seeing it for the first time. But you need to answer all these questions before writing your feedback. This will ensure that your feedback is constructive and actionable and will achieve the objectives you set at the start of the project.
The Feedback Sandwich
When you write feedback, it should not all sound negative or overly critical. You need to split the feedback up into different segments which touch upon all aspects. First, you write what you like about the design and the positive things you see in it. Very rarely will you receive a design where NOTHING meets the goals outlined in your brief.
Once you are finished with the positive, then you get to the parts that don’t work and can be improved. You don’t need to be harsh in your criticism. Just explain why it doesn’t work and then give suggestions or examples on how they can improve it.
Finally, you will conclude your feedback by reiterating what you liked about the design and how the suggested changes can improve the quality of the design. This will give the designer the enthusiasm they need to try again and give you exactly what you are looking for.
