I know that you may disagree with me, because a designer must be able to design first of all, right? Yes, but anyone can “design.” Anyone can move a mouse and type on a keyboard and create a visual work meant to communicate.
What I’m saying though, is that self-critique is a vital element of design. The ability to evaluate what you’re creating and make critical decisions while you work empowers you to design effectively.
If you can analyze a piece of your own design and decide that it has room to improve, you have just enabled yourself to make those improvements to turn an average design into an excellent one. Try to step out of your “designer” shoes and into your “expert design critic” shoes, and be harsh on yourself!
Critiquing your own work is very difficult, because we are all naturally biased to like what we create. Sometimes I finish designing a website, logo, or brochure, and then I sit back in my chair and grin stupidly, basking in the glory of being impressed with my own work. I could just sit and gaze at my computer screen for 30 minutes, admiring my handiwork. Later in the day I’ll come back and open the file just to enjoy looking at it again.
Then a few days later I’ll come back and look at it again. “Holy crap! Who messed with my design?! It doesn’t look as mind-blowingly awesome as it did 5 days ago!” Hmm…
Taking a break from your design can work wonders in helping you critique yourself. I know it looked great before, but maybe your brain was slightly fried and needed some time to process something other than your computer screen.
It’s vital for designers to be critiquing their artwork continuously as they design, as this will result in a better final product. Of course, we all do critique as we work; that’s how we make each visual decision while we work.
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Great article. I really think the tips and questions you suggest are right on. Self critiquing is a hard skill to acquire but one we must all have as designers.
Thanks.
Leighton Taylor Reply:
April 5th, 2010 at 8:50 am
Thanks for your input Tony. I’m glad you enjoyed the post—you’re welcome to stop by and discuss anytime. :)
Good points. I think this applies to many things besides design, including writing. The revision process is where most good work becomes great work.
One question though: Isn’t there a danger of becoming overly critical? We want to be critics, but not perfectionists. Perfectionism kills creativity.
Leighton Taylor Reply:
April 6th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
Yeah, that’s true. If you are too focused on making the perfect design while you design, that will slow you down and choke your creativity.
But if you allow your creativity to flow freely while designing, and then come back later to evaluate what you’ve already done, that would solve the problem of self-critique hurting your design process. Would you agree with that?
Leighton Taylor Reply:
April 5th, 2010 at 7:27 am
That’s a great point Preston. I know I don’t seek out critique from other designers as much as I should, but when I do it’s always helpful and eye-opening.
Getting outside input is especially important for an interactive design—we should be having people from our target audience test the site for usability.
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