Knowing how to deliver feedback constructively in a creative setting takes practice. That practice can be difficult and awkward at times, which is why I’ve carved out some tips on how to make the process go a little smoother. These tips begin with all the members of a critique leaving their egos at the door and being committed to making the work the best it can be.

If you are not in a formal critique atmosphere, always ask if feedback is welcome and needed at this point in the project. Using phrases such as, "Can I give you some feedback?"  "Are you open for feedback?"  "What kind of feedback are you looking for?" is a great way to start the 

This goes without saying, but I see this happen all the time: don’t ask for feedback just to check a box. If you are nearing the end of a project and ask for feedback on something, make sure you have the time,  budget, and motivation to implement the feedback. Dismissing ideas simply because you don’t have the time means you may have missed the boat on asking for feedback in the first place.

2 — Remember That It’s All Subjective

As the person giving feedback, using first-person pronouns (I, me, my) is a great indicator that your feedback is just your opinion. Sentences with “I feel that..” “I think..” “I see…” opens the floor for back and forth discussion, prompting others to engage and speak from their perspective as well.

3 — Nix The Ol' “Compliment Sandwich”

The idea of this is nice and it can be helpful if you are very new to critiques. However, the compliment - critique - compliment technique can come off a bit insincere. Definitely give kudos when you see something you like, just make sure you are being direct and honest with your feedback and are delivering it with respect and care.

If you are the one giving feedback and see an aspect of the work that you are unsure about, always ask the presenter how they got to that point or why they made that decision. Phrases that start like “Tell me more about...” or “What’s your thinking behind…” The answers to these simple questions will give the piece deeper meaning and provide more context around the work as a whole. If you still see room for improvement after you have listened to the explanation, respectfully express your thoughts. Asking questions invites reflection and is vital in sparking new ideas.

5 — Don’t Make Comments Just To Make Comments

In many critique environments where people are going around the table giving feedback, you may feel pressured to comment on the work. If feedback doesn’t immediately pop in your head, don’t feel like you have to come up with something just to make your voice seem valuable. If this is the case, take time to compliment the work and explain what's working for you. 

As much practice giving valuable feedback takes, receiving that feedback takes just as much. Giving context and listing the goals of the project before you begin presenting your work will help give viewers a solid understanding of the project. If you are the one receiving feedback, try your best to separate yourself from your work and not take things personally.

Follow these six easy steps and you are on your way to becoming a master at critique! 


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Critique Etiquette

As a graphic designer, quite often I’ll have clients ask me to create a “template” to handoff for them to use for various deliverables such as print ads, social posts, etc. While this seems like a simple request, there are complex questions to answer in order to determine if a template is the right fit for a creative piece.

When clients request templates, a big reason is so that they can make changes to the creative internally, saving money and eliminating the back-and-forth requests to an agency. Despite what Oprah says, templates aren’t as simple as they seem and do not work in all cases.

The best case for creating and using a template is when the layout stays exactly the same and copy and images are the only things switching out. Food menus, business cards, and email blasts are great examples of when a template can come in handy and keep your brand consistent.

Keep in mind that content informs the design and layout. If your main message and concept are changing for a specific piece of creative - think social posts or print ads - a template will not be the most effective approach because it will pigeon hole you to one layout that may not work for every message you are trying to communicate.

Other examples of when a template might not be the best idea is when content will change tremendously such as annual reports, newsletters, and presentations. While there are guidelines that can be set to help create these items, a template used outside of a design team and design software would be very time consuming to create and at the end of the day, may not be worth the investment. But don’t worry - we have solutions for both cases because we’d never leave you high and dry.

 - These are great for small scale projects that don’t need a whole lot of editing. For example, business card templates can work well in this format where a few key pieces of information will change, but will not affect the overall layout. The beauty of this method is that designers can create custom documents in any of the Adobe Creative Suite programs and save them out as editable PDFs. The designer can then open the file in Adobe Acrobat and assign text fields that the end user can fill in and change. The end user will just have to purchase Adobe Acrobat Pro to edit and the learning curve there is pretty low. Food menus, name badges, and price tags are all other examples of when this technique can come in handy.

 - VIA has used google slides for templated presentations for ourselves as well as our clients. Where this tool lacks in design capabilities, it makes up for in accessibility and collaboration purposes. It’s best to keep design as simple as possible when setting up templates because the design toolset is very limited compared to professional design software. A designer can take this method a step further by creating custom icons and illustrations in external programs, and saving them in an ‘assets’ folder alongside the actual google slide file. That way, the end user will have a library of custom branded content they can pull into their presentations.

 - InDesign is a part of Adobe Creative Suite and is used widely by designers. It can be a great tool for setting up long form documents. For example, we are currently working on building a custom RFQ (Request For Proposal) document for one of our clients using this program. Why InDesign? InDesign allows you to set paragraph, character, and object styles - leaving no room for guesswork when it comes to creating new pages. You can also assign as many master pages as you’d like, locking certain information in place. This technique only works if the end user has an InDesign license and has a good understanding of how to use the program. This would be the ideal approach for creating items such as annual reports, presentations, and newsletters since it makes changing out large amounts of information easy and consistent.

There is an abundance of drag-and-drop, template based software options accessible to anyone with a computer and an internet connection. Canva is one that I have not personally used, but have heard about from non-designers. This, and others like it, could be an option if you do not have access to or the budget for hiring an agency or freelancer. There are already preset templates to choose from where you just plug in your own content.

To my knowledge, there is no perfect solution for handing off work to be easily edited by someone who does not have access to or knowledge of using design software. However, The beauty of partnering with an agency is that you have the ability to get custom, unique designs created just for your company that will set you apart and completely align to your brand.

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Brand Standards Manual, Brand Guidelines, Style Guideâ¦ whatever you want to call it, building a set of rules for your brand is crucial. I know, I know. Following the rules doesn’t sound very glamorous or creative. But by doing so, you are ensuring that the brand is consistent across the board. This is key for creating brand recognition, which every successful company has.

Brand guidelines vary in content, but for the most part, they contain these basic elements:

It’s common to expand on them a bit more and include pieces such as brand personas, photography direction, video direction, mood boards, social guidelines, voice & tone, and other branded elements such as patterns, custom icons, etc. Now, how all these elements are decided is a subject for another blog post. But for the most part, they’re drawn from a ton of research and a series of branding workshops we run through with our clients.

These guidelines are not just for designers and vendors to use to confirm hex codes or typefaces. They are meant to be useful for anyone responsible for any type of brand expression. That includes the secretary greeting callers on the phone, the social media manager writing an Instagram caption, and the new business guy giving a 20-second elevator pitch.

At VIA, a well-designed brand guideline document is normally our very last deliverable in a branding project. When creating a brand from scratch, I personally love defining guidelines last because that way I’m not restricting myself before I begin the exploration phase. This gives me time to experiment with everything and truly find out what works, and what doesn’t.

Brand guidelines are meant to be a living, breathing document. They are never “complete” and should be flexible as a brand grows. Because of this, we’ve seen a trend in building digital brand guidelines rather than hard copies or PDFs. Although a nicely printed brand book looks pretty slick on your coffee table, a digital platform housing guidelines and assets has its perks: it’s easier to update, more accessible, cost-effective and always up-to-date. There are many digital guidelines out there, however one we always look to for inspiration is Uber. Not only does it contain everything you’d need to know, the guide itself stays true to the brand and it’s clean and easy to navigate.

 developed a beautiful, digital brand guideline

Whether you have a complex, digital platform housing all of your brand assets and guidelines or you have a one-sheeter style guide, setting rules is important to any brand. If you have questions on how VIA can help you develop yours, reach out to us and let’s get to work!

 at VIA Studio is two components: Brand Strategy and Brand Identity. 

 is a process that helps you find the unique values of your organization and your value to your audience, and defines how you can best communicate that value. 

 is the outward expression of your company, and is crafted from your logo, colors, typography, as well as the rules that govern how they are implemented. A great identity reinforces confidence in and awareness of your brand.

Branding

The Importance of Brand Guidelines

This is a loaded question with so many possible answers. For the sake of a professional blog entry for my workplace, let’s take this route: Good Branding.

I usually start my morning with an iced coffee in one hand while the other scrolls through a branding case study while I think to myself “I wish I would have thought of that.” Good branding means being thoughtful. Thoughtful of every aspect of how someone will interact with a company.

Logos are important, but they’re just the corner pieces to a 1,000-piece puzzle.

Oh, I liked that metaphor… let’s try another one.

Your Bumble date is a brand, with their name as the logo. How are they presenting themselves? Is their look polished and pristine, or do they look effortless and approachable. Are they smiling and waving while they walk towards you, or are they calm, cool, and collected? By the time you shake hands, you’ve already learned so much about this person before you’ve even met them.

Branding is the reason you feel any certain way about a company. It’s how the company presents itself. It’s their voice and how they speak to you. It’s what they stand for and believe in. It’s what they look like, and sometimes it’s even how they smell! All of this is vital to building something you want people to interact with and trust. When companies do this well, they are unstoppable.

Enough reading. Let’s take a look at one of my favorite brands and dive into why they are so successful.

Their logo says it all, and nothing more. Lush is unlike any cosmetic company out there because they stand for so much more than what they are selling.

Someone who is unfamiliar with Lush may describe this as a boring logo. Little do they know that it aligns perfectly with their brand values and what they stand for – which is anything but boring, and anything but ‘frilly’. Lush lives and breathes these six values:

Yeah, these may be plastered on the website, but do these values support their brand? The answer is a big fat yes, and here’s how:

If you’ve never stepped foot in a Lush brick and mortar, what are you even doing? The entire store is one beautiful display highlighting their colorful and unique products. Not only is it a sight to see, it’s strategic down to the finest detail. Walking through the store may remind you of your latest trip to the farmers market or the grocery produce aisle. Soaps and bath bombs are stacked in crates accompanied by handwritten signs. That farmer’s market feeling is 100% intentional and nods to their fresh and handmade values.

Lush Store Display

Let’s talk about their packaging… or lack there of. Just like you were visiting the butcher, soaps are carefully wrapped in wax paper patterned with their illustrated values. Handwritten labels cover black plastic tubs and bottles, all of which are a part of their recycle and reuse program. Each product features a sticker detailing who made the product and the date it was bottled as well as when to stop using – ensuring absolute handmade freshness! And after you drop an embarrassing amount of money at the register, it’s all placed in a brown paper bag with a large “Fighting Animal Testing” logo. A shopping bag is a companies #1 billboard, and Lush took this opportunity to represent a value they hold close to their hearts. I appreciate them for that.

Lush uses their website to not only feature and sell their products, but as a platform to speak on their values. Each value is coupled with it’s own blog post! The visual layout of their product page is clean, simple, and contains no frills, much like the products themselves and their naked packaging. Branded elements such as their unique handwritten font are carried over onto the web in a subtle way that’s not over-the-top and doesn’t obstruct the user experience.

The way a brand speaks is just as important as it looks. When making connections with people, how you sound holds so much power. A brand like Nike falls in that inspirational, bold, powerful, and authoritative category. Lush’s website, social spaces, packaging, and in-store signage all have a consistent voice and tone that’s straight forward, yet friendly, warm, honest, conversational, and resourceful.

So, if you take anything away from my ramblings, let it be this: If you are starting a company, invest in branding – not just a logo. In fact, go ahead and hit that contact button because VIA has all of the tools and talent to help you craft a solid brand that’s unique to your company.

Ashley Trommler

Journal Entries

Critique Etiquette

Design Templates

The Importance of Brand Guidelines

Thoughtful Branding