Design students/professors: How do you critique?

[Fantômas]

Disclaimer: I posted this on another design forum as well, so if you're on both and answered 'over there' you don't have to answer again. But input is appreciated regardless! ;)
I'm writing an article on the student ability/inability to critique work in class and what leads up to that ability/inability. I teach graphic design at a state university.
Thanks Everyone!:)

Question for everyone: How extensive/thought filled are your critiques that are conducted in class? Two parts to this question:

1. How do you critique? Do you go with constructive criticism or destructive criticism? Do you critique thoroughly, or just a topical surface critqiue and let them figure it out?

2. How do the students crtiqiue each others work? Do they hold back or do you tell them to let it all out, good or bad?

THe reason why i ask this: In my classes, i've heard a lot of students unable to speak their mind. I hear a lot of "cool" "i like it" "i don't like it" all mixed in with the word "like" about 20 times in a sentence. The critiques are often lacking substance, and teh students don't back up their opinion. So for the last year, i've A. forbid them to use cool, i like it, i don't like it and B. I force them to speak more in class to get used to presenting and explaining their work in front of their fellow peers.

And a question for the students on this board: how do you critique? Do you put a lot of time and thought into your critique or just keep it simple? Do you ask questions (the designer whose work is being critiqued) about the work?

[tZ]

Whether its relevant or not I'm a student(senior) just for the record.

Fantômas wrote:

How do you critique? Do you go with constructive criticism or destructive criticism? Do you critique thoroughly, or just a topical surface critqiue and let them figure it out?


Constructive. Usually, pretty thoroughly unless I think the piece is excellent or horrific. Then I just kinda keep it to myself or maybe say one or two things that could make it more successful directly.

Fantômas wrote:

How do the students crtiqiue each others work? Do they hold back or do you tell them to let it all out, good or bad?


It depends. if someone asks me personally, depending on the success I usually approach it in a very delicate manor… not the head-one approach like I normally go with on these boards. Especially, if it is a friend or something. Since, although we ask for critiqes and criticism and what not we all know that in the back of minds that if someone says something horrible that even if its true we want to hang them, lol- or maybe thats just me.

Fantômas wrote:

He reason why i ask this: In my classes, i've heard a lot of students unable to speak their mind. I hear a lot of "cool" "i like it" "i don't like it" all mixed in with the word "like" about 20 times in a sentence. The critiques are often lacking substance, and teh students don't back up their opinion. So for the last year, i've A. forbid them to use cool, i like it, i don't like it and B. I force them to speak more in class to get used to presenting and explaining their work in front of their fellow peers.


I think part of the problem arises when people don't have a throughout understanding of the fundamentals. I mean… if you don't know the theories and what not then all your really left with is cool- right?

On the other hand, it could be shyness or the fear of hurting someone else's feelings. Cause we all know that in the end, it does hurt a little to have a * bad* critique- I don't care what you say- it sucks. Yes, its a good thing to hear something is terrible so you can make it better and learn from your mistakes to make it more successful the next time around- but it does kinda somewhat get to someone when they get tore apart- no matter how professionally the case is presented.

Fantômas wrote:

and a question for the students on this board: how do you critique? Do you put a lot of time and thought into your critique or just keep it simple? Do you ask questions (the designer whose work is being critiqued) about the work?


On these boards normally, I can spot problems and their relationship to design theory pretty quickly however, in a class room atmosphere that isn't always the case. It depends on the success of the work really. I realize and I'm sure everyone else does that nothing can ever be perfect. So with that mind I always approach it based on how successful it is not whether or not it could be better- because in the end a piece can always be better.

When I critique though I hate using the word cool or good or whatever. I think those words are very subjective. I mean… cool to me is different from what cool may be to someone else- it varies. The problem with cool is your basing the success of the design on your personal thoughts- not design theory and practice. That is why I also have forbidden myself from the word cool.

However, in the end I think students and others alike respect a person more if they speak their mind- that is in a constructive way beyond- its cool. Especially, if you can root out problems and suggest resolutions as applied to theory rather then just saying you like it or not. At least that is what I have come to learn from my time on these boards and in the classroom atmosphere.

[icekitty37]

from my experience in 3 semesters (with basically the same group of students) it is broken down like this:

2 or 3 students who do 90% of the critique. we actually comment and construct based on true principles of design. we don't care about feelings or people or who's it is. it is there to be judged, so judge it!


the rest of the class either says "i like it", "everything has already been said" or "it is cool. it works". they do NOT back up reasoning and basically are speaking so they can get their participation grade for the class. i think a lot of these people hold back because they don't want others to give them looks or get mad or depressed. or they lack the communication skills and eye for design to be able to discern what can help and what can't.

a few others say nothing at all and really need not be in the class.
the teacher himself doesn't even say anything constructive. just points out one thing he doesn't like.

i've found that college critiques (at my school) aren't that constructive. that is why i have posted some of my projects on here. to get real feedback from people with real talent.

[PrintDriver]

We didn't start critiques until about the 4th project in the classes I took. The profs would review the first few projects in class. Once everyone had the basics of what was expected in the class (or they should have by that time), then they were asked to critique. And the profs wouldn't accept a comment without a reason. The student who's work was being critiqued was also expected to defend his decisions.

There was never any real argument or badly hurt feelings. You learned why someone did something the way they did and they heard whether or not their concept was successful. Isn't that what a critique is all about?

[Fantômas]

We didn't start critiques until about the 4th project in the classes I took. The profs would review the first few projects in class. Once everyone had the basics of what was expected in the class (or they should have by that time), then they were asked to critique. And the profs wouldn't accept a comment without a reason. The student who's work was being critiqued was also expected to defend his decisions.

There was never any real argument or badly hurt feelings. You learned why someone did something the way they did and they heard whether or not their concept was successful. Isn't that what a critique is all about?

Was this when you were an advanced, beginner, or an intermediate student? and how did you see the critique change as people progressed through the program?

[frankster]

I know it sometimes seems overly analytical to deconstruct a piece of art in a scientific manner, and please note that I have no formal training in this area besides an A-level in art, but maybe it would help students starting to critique thier own and others work by giving them a list of things to consider, such as: suitability for the target audience, balance, colour, typographic treatment etc, with details of what to look for. If they have never had to do this type of excersize before then maybe they are struggling to know where to start when looking at a piece of work? Do you encourage the group to critique as a whole, so they can feed ideas off each other or do you request that one student critiques another's work alone? That could be quite intimidating.

[tZ]

^ frankster has a good idea.

In my studio class that is what we did.

The class was divided into groups of 4-5 with about 5-6 different criteria for critique. Each group was given one of the others groups work and wrote down the critique based on the groups opinion of whether or not each was successful per the given crit criteria.

[frankster]

It would be a fantastic opportunity to focus on diplomacy too. Although most of the designers I know are capable of taking creative constructive criticism well, clients are another matter entirely. Helping students to find something good to say before they bring up something bad will help thier client relationships in the future, for example: "You have great hierachy, but the typography still needs some work to get the balance right" or "You've got the company colours working well in the design, but I think there are a lot more appropriate fonts that could be used". Designers can see through that sort of diplomacy, but the clients often need it when they are coming to you with half baked concepts and layouts for you to "start from".

[Two-Toe Tom]

i would think it'd be better dealing with clients when you can tell them exactly why their ideas suck.

[frankster]

Sure, you have to tell them if something sucks, but there are ways of telling them without them thinking you are mean and hating you ;) and often that involves praising thier ideas first in some way (honestly dealing with two toddlers has helped my diplomacy skills no end!:rolleyes: )

[PrintDriver]

My courses were Bachelor Degree level. But critiques were done in all classes involving projects, from Drawing 101 to Industrial Design.

It wasn't only important to get the project done, if you couldn't explain the reasoning behind what it was you were trying to accomplish, that went against your grade. Just saying, "I thought these two fonts looked good together" was not a good enough reason to use them. You had to present your piece as a whole.

Critiques were never brutal in the way some of the Showcase threads get (and certainly not the way the How forum is for that matter). The intent was not to shred someone's work as garbage but to offer constructive suggestions.

We also had mid-project critiques (progress reports) either one-on-one with the professor or as a class group. Certain targets within a project had to be met and presented as if you were doing client meetings during the progress of a project.

We even had one professor who would change direction mid project, as if a client had a change of heart. Boy am I glad she did that. Maddening at the time but sooooo useful.

I was in the program at a time when many adults were transitioning from paste-up to computers. There were probably 3-4 people over 30 years old in every class. GD is my second career too. Maybe us oldsters set a different tone.

As far as changes as the program progressed, it wasn't so much the critique that changed but the students. As the courses progressed, the upper level class critiques brought together theory from several different classes so that the natural progression was that by the time you were doing your Directed Study requirement, critiques included criticism on color, typography, layout, practicality, etc. rather than being focused on one aspect.

The only two beefs I had with the program were 1. the instructors would extend due dates if 25% of the class wasn't done and 2. Absolutely no pre-press training. The Real World was a huge wakeup call for many students during Internship. Last I checked on the Alumni boards only 2 of 14 registered GD alumni from my class are still in the Graphics field after 15 years.

[Fantômas]

Thanks for the input so far everyone!
Any other professors/teachers on here?

[Tea]

Yes. I teach art, design, and a yearbook class which uses InDesign and Photoshop, but at the high school level. I conduct critiques in my drawing class though just to get them transitioned into the idea of doing a more formal critique at the college level should they continue in an art or design area. Getting them used to the idea of proudly displaying their work is a challenge by itself, yet alone getting them to talk and write about their work.

It is a simple format:

Tell us one thing you really like about your piece and why.
Tell us something you don't really like and why...
which leads to
group comments about the work which has to have a positive if they are going to say a negative
And then finally if you could change something what would it be?

During the process, I try to get them to focus on using art elements and design principles that they have learned during the course.

[Drazan]

On the flip side of graphic design, I critique and edit for professional writers. In one group we have a set of guidelines to which we adhere our critique.

Typically this group and others I've traversed in the past have these types of guidelines. I'll try to convert them to a graphics point of view. Also, you'll want to ask open ended questions that are not "why". Why and Because are arguementive statements loaded with opinion. Target with more descriptive questions and you'll get more descriptive answers.

1) minimum word count typically 500 words. This forces the students to interact with the designer. There will be some grumbling, I'm sure. But by finding the flaws in others designs will enable the student to find flaws of there own work and avoide them in the future.

2) overall impression of the piece and why (this is the "I like it , because" statements. This is the personal opinion of an onlooker walking along a street. This is were the opinions should stay and should be the only "why" question.

3) communication and goal. Does the piece convey to the on looker a message? What is that message? What about the piece reaches the goal of effective communication? What about the peice you would improve to make it better in your perspective? Who do you think is the target for this message (age, genre, business or not) *** These types of questions are open ended it must be answered in more than a "yes/no" answer.

4) effective use of creativity and design. What part of the piece is effectively using graphics/typography/text etc? How does the pieces of design come together to show the end user the message or product? How do you follow the flow of the design? What would you suggest to improve the design?

5) Nitty Gritty. This is where the students can critique agaisted the written brief, or design theorys that you are currently covering. Has the designer proofed the work? Where's the mistakes? Suggestions on improving the design in specific areas. This is where the students can tell the designer that if it's printed that way the text will fall off the edge. Or if the blue was a shade more muted then it would make the text read better. Or in paragraph 3 there/they're mistake.

6) In closing, a voice of encouragement. Afterall the previous sections just tore the project apart, finding every little flaw under a microscopic view. And the designer is pretty well huffed by now. So follow up with the good points. Choose a couple pieces of the piece to praise on while still encouraging change. Such as: Overall this piece has some pretty strong elements, most notably in the use of whitespace etc, but with a different graphic photo that is less competing with the text would make this really effective.

Summary on effective critiques: Learning how to give good feedback will enable you to collaborate effectively in a team enviroment in a design studio. You will learn how to find flaws in others work and effectively communicate to your team ways of improving the project. You will also learn how to critique your own work and improve your results. Learning this part of graphic design will also help if you are seeking a job as a team leader, graphic director, or even running your own business where you have many employees below you.

Placing value on why a critique is neccessary and alluding to possible future benefit will help the students become more involved in the process.

Hope this helps!
Jade