Avoiding the Designer’s Crisis

It would be a marvelous world indeed, if every comp/design ever produced was received with adornment and praise. The truth is, as designers, when we submit any comp – we expect that. This type of speculation is perhaps a bit naive – but we wouldn’t put anything out we didn’t think was founded in solid design principles and decisions. Well, that’s not totally true, occasionally we do have to put out work we feel could be better, given the proper amount of time. But for the most part an ill-received comp is not unlike a cold cup of water to a sleeping face, shocking.

“We hate it”

If one could predict what projects are going to go awry and why – perhaps the “Designer’s Crisis” could be avoided. It seems there are a few situations I have found in my limited experience which have a higher risk than others. It’s tough to design for designers, work under tight deadlines, and to follow someone else’s brand guidelines while resisting the “Designer’s Touch”.

Designing for Designer’s

First off, let me say this – everyone is a designer on some level. From the critic to the creator, being a designer not only means to create, but it also means to have an opinion of something designed. When I walk by a beautiful building, I may comment about its design, I may not. But I certainly have an opinion of some sort, just ask. It works this way with about any object created with some aesthetic forethought. Now I don’t mean that everyone can design – just that they probably, at least, have an opinion.

“Can you move it a little to the right?”

How much qualification does that opinion get someone? It depends. Have they designed something similar? Seen a lot of similar work? Or is the subject of the design something they feel they truly know better, such as a brand? With every project, a designer will be designing for a stakeholder – if that stakeholder is a true designer, one that can create, chances are the project has a higher chance of the “Designer’s Crisis.”

Tight Deadlines Effect End Product

If time is a designer’s best friend, then lack of time must be a designers worst enemy. Once again, I have been inspired by Veerle and decided to include the topic of deadlines and end product. The process of creation isn’t about clocking in and clocking out. Which also means as time on the clock is running out – it doesn’t really register – often affecting the end product.

In all reality we need those deadlines, as the discussion that followed Veerle’s post pointed out, we just need to be good at managing them. In a perfect world, I could say a project will take 15 hours, clock in and out, and be done. But it never works that way. A design is on my mind 24 hours, including dreams. Things like saying yes instead of no, or slowly gaining the ability to accurately estimate times before hand is a huge step in the right direction.

Style Guides and a Designer’s Touch

When viewing a brand guideline document for the first time there are usually two thoughts that cross my mind; the first being, “wow, I can’t believe someone had to put this together.” The second is overwhelming feeling of walls closing in. We design because wevwant to create something new. Whether it’s a mashup of different things or something completely original – we want to put our own touch on it. An extensive style guide can be stifling.

There is really no way to avoid projects with style guides, so the answer is to handle it case by case. On some projects you will receive direction to follow a style guideline to a T. Some projects leave breathing room to accent the project and make it better. But never assume – because when it goes awry and one gets accused of not following the guidelines, the Designer’s Crisis ensues and things get ugly. Always ask how much creative rope is available.

In Conclusion

While the time before handing over completed designs tests a designer’s ability, the time following a Designer’s Crisis tests a designer’s resolve. To take criticism period is difficult for anyone. But when criticism gets ugly or mildly offensive, it invokes a sense of failure – followed by frustration. As difficult as it may seem, the best thing to do is to stay positive. It’s totally ok to feel like throwing a chair on the inside (maybe that’s just me (-; ) but on the outside one must retain composure. Relationships and reputation are what get us through our careers. One or two bad design reviews are a minor blip on the radar compared to the dozens and dozens of good reviews one may get over the course of a career.

Additional Resources

• Handling Criticism
• Top 10 List for Handling Criticism
• The Delicate Art of (Web) Design Critique

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