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As a design student, I absolutely love having my art and designs critiqued by my classmates. I go to school online and we normally upload our work to a public (to the class) discussion board. In this area, students have the opportunity to critique the work of others and to have their own work critiqued. More often than not, the "critiques" from my classmates only consist of statements regarding how much they like it or how cool it is. If I am going to have my work critiqued, I would prefer to have a few paragraphs discussing what they thought was put together the best and what areas they think are the worst. Honestly, I would prefer to only have them state the worst areas. If they aren't going to state what is wrong with them, I don't think that they should critique my work at all. Why? Because knowing our greatest faults is the only way for us to improve upon them.

Tags: Critique, design, development

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I like to be critiqued by classmates and professors. I went through two years of a Computer Graphics class at a tech school during my high school years and we had critiques very often. When I got to college I found a lot of people never been through a critique before and had really no idea what to say or even approach it. Our professors taught us some very good things about critiques and one of them is to not always jump to what you like, state what you don't like first. They also said to state what you see, trying to understand the piece the way the artist does. Of course sometimes that can be hard at first, but anything you say usually helps the artist. 

I completely agree with you. I think I am having the same type of troubles with my current classmates. We go to an online university. When we have designs, we post them to what is called the "discussion board". The problems that I have are either I get skipped from critiques as if my classmates simply don't want to critique my work or they make it quite to siimple to even be labeled as a critique. Stating what they see would be a way to get them started. Then they could metaphorically rip the design into peices so that they can tell you what pieces need improvements and what doesn't.
I like my work to be critiqued by a professional instead of a student or any other uncreative professional. :)

I can understand that. But, as a student, I can also tell you that I am very good at critiquing designs. However, I can't say I would be good at critiquing photographs. They still hold up to the same design principles. I just don't know enough about the profession.

 

When it comes to being critiqued, does your comfort depend on the person's level of knowledge regarding the design principles or only their professional title?

I appreciate the concept of critiques and definitely enjoy them. It's a good way to have a fresh pair of eyes look at something you did because usually they find something that you may have missed. After you have looked at a piece for so long it sometimes can get hard to make the correct changes. In my classes a lot of the people do not really know what yo say and will just end up saying it looks nice because they like the colors. Fortunately my teachers are always there to give us proper critiques!
Thank you and I completely agree. I am starting my focus courses next week so I really hope the critiques are more thorough.
Designs should be critiqued objectively and without bias. I agree with what you mentioned that your classmates should 'state the worst areas'. Just keep an open mind and treat these criticisms as your guides for better outputs.

Most definitely. I would rather someone tell me that my work "sucks" than tell me that it is really good. But, if they are going to say anything about it at all, they better be able to back up their opinion. If they decide not to decipher the work the way it should be in a critique, then I don't want them to critique my work. I hope that doesn't sound too judgmental. But, I have to think about what is going to really help me improve. A lot of "good job" and "awesome" types of responses won't do anything but feed my ego.

 

I completely agree! many people from my classes when I was still studying at uni, didn't have anything to say about my work, either that or they would just say that they liked it, couldn't say why/why not.

Sometimes the tutor would be the only one to say anything about my work.

I really think that bad criticisms about your work is essential for it burst our bubbles and crack our shells when it comes to our preconceived notions and ideas about our own skills and style. Most of them, sometimes, can be too demeaning and may just get under your skin, but it's just as important to get used to them since you'll get as much vicious comments when you're a student and when you're already out in the industry.

I actually really miss critique. I only work with one other person and we don't look at each others' work as often as we should. My work feels so much more refined when I know someone else already helped me work out the kinks. I've started sending some things to my colleagues (other designers) just for their input. I plan to ask for advice a bit more from my boss in the future, as well. My skin really did thicken up throughout harsh critique in college and I'm very thankful for that.

It's good that you've toughened up as a result of harsh critique Kristin! ;) I'm the same now, life's too short to feel bad about the negative feedback from such a process! I used to get really down when someone pointed out all the weak points in my work, I even had the tutor attack me on a personal level which was really stupid!

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