Get on the Same Page

First things first, make sure you know what your designer would like feedback on. Chances are, they like to work in phases, and may not be presenting a final product right out of the gate. Are you taking a look at the overall look and feel? Are you providing thoughts on the color scheme? Are you focusing on the imagery used? Or is this a round of revisions for just the message and the copy?

Your designer will usually give you some direction on what needs reviewing during a round of revisions, however, if they don’t, be sure to clarify. Making sure you are on the same page will save you lots of costly of back-and-forth.

One Voice is the Best Voice

Everyone has an opinion, and that’s ok, but save yourself some time and money by consolidating your team’s feedback internally before shooting it back over to your designer.

If your designer has to sift through tons of duplicative (and sometimes competing) comments, you are paying for their time to do this. However, if you send over a unified voice pointing them in one direction, your money can go towards design hours instead.

If you need to wrangle multiple voices on your end, streamline the feedback process by asking direct, pointed questions. Instead of just an open-ended question like ‘Do you like this?’, ask “Does this portray the vision/message we want to get across with this piece?”. The feedback you get you will be much more useful (because it’s a lot more important for your target audience to understand it and relate to it than it is for every member of your team to think its pretty.)

Vagueness is a Budget
(and Timeline) Killer!

Be specific. Vague statements can get very expensive in the long run. Sometimes you may not know exactly what you want, but be upfront about your gut feelings as to why you may not like something. A good designer can help you wade through that, articulate your thoughts, and find the right solution.

Designers are used to feedback; it’s part of the job! At the end of the day, all they want is to make your brand something you are proud of. So be direct and let them know what isn’t working for you, but even more importantly WHY. (This is where they can work their magic!)

Trust Goes Both Ways

You are the expert in your business, but your designer is there to help you enhance your business’s image through visual storytelling. Trust your designer. If you can help them understand what your challenge is, they can create a solution to address that through design.

It’s ok to ask questions! Chances are, they had a really good reason for making that line angled to the right and bright blue. You should feel comfortable having discussions with them about decisions that were made and why. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of preference, and an easy change if it doesn’t sit right with you. But inquiring will show the designer that you value their professional opinion, and who knows, you may see it differently after they explain the logic behind it.

Feedback Tools are Your Friend

Picture this, and you know you have done it – you printed out the design work you got in your email, scribbled all over it, scanned it back in, and sent it back to your designer. Assuming the designer can read your handwriting, it will take them a while to decipher it, and chances are, they will have to email you back a time or two to clarify things. In this super high tech world we live in, why not use a tool specifically designed for giving feedback on digital documents? You don’t have to look far; here are some tools that are fantastic for providing feedback.

Adobe Acrobat (Comment Mode)  |  InVision App  |  RedPen

Gone are the days of making long notes through emails like, “on page 2, 3rd paragraph, 4th line, 18th word.” Use a tool! Your designer will be pleased, and you’ll shave a good chunk of time off your final bill.

Many times your designer will already have a system in place where they want you to give feedback, but if they don’t, now you’ll know some tools you can use to impress your designer and streamline the process.