Comments on: The Creative Critique : A Concept Feedback Review

By: 16 Links to Stuff You Can Use in Interactive Media « Inter / Understanding Interactive Media

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:17:28 +0000

[...] 2. Maybe you just need a place to go for feedback. Listen and improve with the help of others. [...]

By: Creative Graphic Design | Tony

Creative Graphic Design | Tony — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:19:26 +0000

Great post. It’s always advised to get constructive feedback from other people, who knows a thing or two on graphic designing and even those who don’t. Criticisms are also good in order for us to identify what aspect of our that needs improvement.

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 15:11:37 +0000

I think this is a great idea. So great..that I in fact had considered trying to start something similar until I found out it already existed! ;)

The most valuable aspect of a service like this is gathering, as Angie pointed out, technical feedback on designs. For example, I sometimes get overwhelmed in the details of my design and need someone with a technical appreciation for design to give me some feedback (especially when I become too immersed in my own design).

With that said, I also think it’s pretty obvious that this shouldn’t be a one-stop shop for all feedback/critiques on the design. You’ll need to test it out with user profiles, get client feedback, and so forth. I guess my only qualm with a service such as this is that I would be hesitant to release unfinished work to the public.

By: MountainSan

MountainSan — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 14:49:41 +0000

I think, it is a good platform for designer to get feedback from the community, to improve his/ her design, especially for new-comer.

By: Concept Feedback

Concept Feedback — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 04:13:48 +0000

[...] There is a full review at Fuel Your Creativity. [...]

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:42:59 +0000

@ Angie, @ Aurimas – Agree with you on both counts. Like I said I’m not against group feedback – and I think Concept Feedback is a great site (perhaps I should have opened with that).

My main concern, and caution, is for designers working with clients to not completely rely on group feedback. Especially when that group is removed from the designer-client relationship.

Unfortunately too many designers (myself included at times) tend to design either what they like or what others like, rather than focusing on what will be be best received and utilized by the individual client.

But keep it up…I certainly wish you all the best with Creative Feedback, and Angie thanks for the great content on FYC.

Cheers,
JVL

By: Aurimas

Aurimas — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:35:48 +0000

Jason,

that’s only partially true. You are forgetting that it is your responsibility to educate the client and be a business consultant at the same time as you’re being a developer, designer, etc.
You can use Concept Feedback to provide more weight to your opinion since a lot of the contributors are industry professionals.

You are also assuming that you are the only target market for the site. You are forgetting about the business owner who gets his design created by a supposed professional and is unsure of the effectiveness or quality of said work.

Those people might benefit greatly from the exposure they would get on the site because a bad piece of work will get torn to pieces and a good one will get praise and further ideas for improvement. The business owner can then go back to his / hers developer with a much better understanding of value / quality, etc.

By: Angie Bowen

Angie Bowen — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:24:52 +0000

Um, okay, that’s your take, but two things for you to ponder. 1) Sometimes, we want critiques on the technical aspects and the effectiveness of our idea without getting the client’s input until we are more confident in what we have to show them. The feedback can help us get the design to that point. Also, the client may not be able to give us any technical critiques because they are not in the field and do not know what it is we are asking about.
And more importantly, 2) Not every design we make is for a client, some are just for us, or for improving our techniques which feedback can always aid in.

By: Angie Bowen

Angie Bowen — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:19:46 +0000

I disagree, Michael, mainly because by allowing other reviewers to rate and rank your feedback as well, which can affect your rep points, people are watching out to make sure that they are trying to be helpful. And you are right, some people may rush through the process to get their work up, but some don’t. We didn’t. We only commented and rated work that we actually had something to say about it. Now not everyone will behave as we did, but I am also sure that not everyone will behave as you have suggested either. So, overall, big score in the win column in our opinion.

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:20:43 +0000

I’m not sure I support the overall goal of a website like Concept Feedback. To me sites like this that illicit feedback from a specific community takes the only element that really matters out of the equation – the client.

I’m all for getting a range of feedback, because I believe ideas and strategies can benefit from group feedback. But at the end of the day, all that matters is if A) the client likes it B) the client can use it C) it solves a problem the client has brought to the table and D) it ultimately makes the client more successful.

Regardless of if the feedback on Concept Feedback is positive or negative, it doesn’t address those four issues – and those are really all that matters when it comes to a client-designer relationship.

By: Aurimas

Aurimas — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:03:16 +0000

Michael – thanks for the kind words. We welcome all suggestions you might have. Let us know if there are things we could improve.

We are planning to put more restrictions on the reviews (such as minimum length, etc.).

By: Michael Wilson

Michael Wilson — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:50:08 +0000

I really enjoy using concept feedback. I find that providing feedback for others really improves the attention to detial on my own work.

However, I don’t agree that they have solved the problem of the ‘great work’ critique. If anything by implementing the review/upload ratio they are pushing new users to quickly review some other work just so they can upload their own work (which I guess is the reason that the majority sign-up.)

I really enjoy being part of concept feedback but i think there are still improvements to be made