We do creative work. We start with ideas and then, through collaboration, we turn those into writing and designs and animations. Our aim, through this work, is to make those ideas manifest in a meaningful and impactful way. This process involves not just us, the creators, but also you, our clients. Collaboration is key because we don’t function just as artists; We’re problem-solvers, and it’s your organization’s problems we’re endeavoring to solve. We can’t do it without your feedback. Feedback is the lifeblood of a successful creative partnership, and every great outcome we achieve is partly thanks to the feedback we receive along the way.

It sounds simple: we do some creative work, present it, and then get your thoughts. In practice, though, giving good feedback is a skill that needs to be developed.

We’d like to explore what makes great feedback and how to be the kind of collaborator who helps the creative work shine.

Consolidated Feedback

When working in a large group, one of the most impactful moments of the collaborative process is coming together to deliver feedback with one voice — representing a single, unified perspective. We’re asking you to use this moment to build alignment internally so the result is something everyone can stand behind. (This is a major facet to our work in Design Therapy).

When we receive conflicting feedback, it can leave us stuck in the middle, unsure of which direction to prioritize. You might be trying to be helpful by giving us a sense of the range of opinions internally, but it can slow down the process and lead to work that’s less effective and bold in execution. It’s not that we don’t care that Larry loves option A and Harriet hates the colors in option B — it’s fascinating. It’s just that it’s not going to move us forward.

This is particularly challenging when you’re dealing with having to solicit feedback from senior leadership. It’s fine to record their opinions, but if they’re putting their fingers on opposite sides of the scale, someone needs to be the decider, ultimately.

By working together as a team to align on your thoughts before sharing them with us, you’re helping ensure that we have a clear path forward. This ultimately leads to a better final product. (And if you find your team stuck on the feedback process and struggling to move forward in one direction, we’re happy to step in to help facilitate clarity and alignment.)

Feedback is the lifeblood of a successful creative partnership, and every great outcome we achieve is partly thanks to the feedback we receive along the way.

Specificity and Reasoning

The best feedback is specific and comes with reasoning. The more details you can provide about what’s not working, the better equipped we are to make meaningful improvements. Is it the color? The tone of the language? The more precise you are, the better.

But it’s not just about being specific — it’s also about the why. Why doesn’t something work for you? Why does another part feel right? The reasoning behind your feedback gives us the insight we need to understand your perspective and adjust accordingly. Without the “why,” we’re often left guessing at the underlying issue, which can lead to miscommunication and unnecessary rounds of revision. And we ask that you ground your reasoning in the strategy. That’s why we build designs from the ground up from ideas. If we agree on the ideas, and the creative isn’t hitting that mark, we want to know. 

Leaving Personal Preference Behind

Whether we’re designing a logo, building a website, or crafting messaging, we’re doing it along with a determined strategy. The strategy (which we will also work on together) tells us who the audience is, what the problem is, the visual direction, the key messages — all the elements that help guide the work and ensure it meets your organization’s needs.

This means that when providing feedback, it’s crucial to focus on the brief and the audience, rather than personal preferences. We get it: it’s natural to have subjective opinions, especially when it comes to creative work. Try to avoid phrases like, “I just don’t like orange,” without explanation.

But the most effective feedback keeps the audience in mind and is rooted in whether the work solves the problem at hand. Ask yourself: does this design resonate with the intended audience? Does the messaging communicate the intended value clearly? Taking your personal preference out of the equation can be tough — we’ve all been clients at one time or another — but letting us understand the rationale will let us do a great job.

But the most effective feedback keeps the audience in mind and is rooted in whether the work solves the problem at hand.

Let Us Solve the Problem

There’s an important distinction between pointing out a problem and trying to solve it. The most effective feedback, we’ve found, tells us what’s working and what’s not, so that our team can come up with a creative solution. For example, instead of suggesting a specific color change, it’s often more helpful to tell us that a particular color doesn’t convey the right emotion or fit the brand. That gives us the context we need to explore other options. It also alleviates your team from the pressure of trying to find a solution on the spot, which can be a pain point in collecting and consolidating timely feedback. We’re here to help!

Ask Us!

In an ideal world, we’re able to present work and explain our rationale for every decision we’ve made. And in an ideal world, we’re perfect communicators who are able to explain everything properly. We do our best, but sometimes what we say or a decision we’ve made doesn’t land. If something doesn’t make sense to you, or if you’re unsure about why a particular choice was made, don’t hesitate to ask. I promise you — all good designers welcome this kind of dialogue that increases understanding. 

We want you to understand the work as deeply as we do, and we’re always happy to explain our rationale, walk through our process, or help you see the work from a new perspective. This is a partnership.

Providing You With Guidance

As I said, giving good feedback isn’t an innate skill. Part of our job as a creative agency is to help guide you in all of the above points so you don’t have to memorize this but learn it as you go. That’s why we make a point of including client feedback guidelines with every document and deliverable we share.

These guidelines are there to help make the process smoother and more effective for everyone. We’ll remind you to consolidate your team’s thoughts, be specific, focus on the audience, and ask questions. We’ll be specific about what kinds of feedback we’re looking for with each deliverable. It’s all part of our commitment to good communication, which we believe is at the heart of every successful project. We’re here for help, after all.

Great creative work is built on a foundation of great collaboration, and great collaboration depends on effective feedback. By consolidating your thoughts as a team, being specific and providing reasoning, focusing on the audience rather than personal preferences, and asking questions, you can help ensure the work we create together is the best it can be.

We’re all in this together, and we’re committed to helping you be the best feedback-giver you can be. With the right kind of input, we can make magic happen — turning ideas into creative work that inspires, connects, and delivers results.