I still remember the rite of passage from my first quarter of Advertising Art class: our first critique. We were a class full of clever, artsy kids (back when you had to show a portfolio to get into art school) who were accustomed to having our work praised by friends and relatives. We were unused to having our work criticized, and were ill-equipped to watch the instructor line all of our work up on the chalk rail and go down the line discussing the shortcomings of each of our precious pieces of art, in front of the whole class.
We had it easy. I’ve heard stories of first quarter (and first year) work sent sailing out of classroom windows during spirited critiques, of students crying, arguing, or stomping out. Some chose that point to decide that maybe art school wasn’t for them.
This was probably a good move.
Negative criticism is more useful than positive criticism. It’s nice to have people like something that you’ve created, it feels good to be praised, but a flow of praise doesn’t lead to forward progress in your craft. Constructive criticism, having your attention drawn to areas of your work that you can improve, is what will help you do a better job the next time.
I’ve never written anything, or done a piece of art that wasn’t improved by showing to someone while it was in progress. That second (or third) pair of eyes will catch things that I have missed. When your nose is close to the screen, it’s hard to see the whole picture, and when you’ve been working on the same project for days and days, it can start to look a little surreal.
In the professional world, a free flow of constructive criticism, both given and taken is what will keep work moving smoothly and getting better as it goes forward. Two dynamics can combine to sabotage the process of criticizing/improving design work—many folks can be timid about criticizing others’ work directly. A client with that tendency working with a designer who gets testy when their work is questioned is a recipe for mediocre results (and a difficult and unpleasant work process).
When communicating with a client, I try to make it clear early on that although I’ll be delighted if they like my work, I am more interested in the areas that they find lacking. My job is to deliver what the client is looking for. Since art and design are hazy topics that can sometimes challenge vocabulary, I get my best feedback from watching and listening to my clients as they react to a new version of a piece.
This is the spirit and letter of collaboration. Whether it’s in an internal design group, or between a designer and a client, in my experience it never fails to improve the end product (and it’s a lot more fun, besides).
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Ben Thompson 
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