A Strategist’s Guide to Design Feedback

Picture it: you’re collaborating with a group of brand experts, each of them ecstatic to know your thoughts on the latest design work. There’s only one problem—you’re not a designer. You may be asking yourself: Am I the only one here who doesn’t know the name of that typeface? Should I have paid better attention when learning Color Theory in art class? What am I really looking at? If you’re like me and have the artistic ability of drywall, it can sometimes feel daunting to dive into the unfamiliar field of design.

At Beardwood, breaking down the walls of our titles is the secret sauce to how we collaborate and offer feedback. Which means that, although I am a strategist, I am expected to not only critique design work but inform it, organize it, and story-tell around it, all in the ultimate effort of making it better. If unequipped, it can be intimidating to speak your piece in front of a room full of design experts, but with the proper toolkit, anyone can approach design with confidence.

1. Show what you know

Listen, I get it—it’s super tempting to want to look at design work the way a designer would, but you don’t have to pretend to be a designer to give valuable feedback. Perhaps your role allows you to know the brand inside and out, or maybe you are an expert in the field the work is aiming to target. When in doubt, own your role and lean into your unique strengths.

As a strategist, I know my role is to make sure the design intuitively reflects a brand’s unique offering, all while standing out and answering both the spoken and unspoken needs of the brand’s community. When working to develop the Enterprise’s 40th Anniversary campaign, for example, the design work captured the vibrance of the brand’s celebration AND enforced the overarching campaign content pillars, bringing together each point of the campaign to create a seamless user experience. This connection was made possible in part by utilizing a strong strategic lens throughout the creative process, aiming for every design element to support a cohesive and thoughtful campaign.

2. Ask the big (and small) questions

When diving into an unfamiliar space, it’s important to ask questions that will help you to evaluate the work. The fear here is that a simple question may have an obvious answer, but that is hardly ever the case. All curiosities are valid, and our team is always eager to help each other better understand what it is we are all looking at. After all, you don’t know what you don’t know, and that’s okay. Some questions that can kickstart your inquiry are:

What is the purpose of that design element?

How did the team arrive at this design decision?

Would you mind telling me what [insert design term of which you have no idea what it means] means?

3. Look at the bigger picture

It can be easy to obsess over every little detail of a design, and that’s why it’s so important to remember the original problem the design should be solving. Take a step back to consider the strategic and creative context behind the work and allow that to drive how you’re viewing the designs. This is not to say that details don’t matter (because they 100% do!), but one of the highest values a strategist can offer is balancing the bigger picture with the details that matter.

When we worked with Choice Organics Tea to develop a refreshed brand identity, Choice was looking for a transformation that not only felt differentiated from category competitors but also intentional and true to the brand’s essence. We were able to successfully deliver on their ask due to our creative collaboration and constant zoom-in zoom-out of the work to ensure that it would stand out AND feel purposeful. From brand voice to brand world, we made sure that the Live Fully brand purpose was felt and expressed through every touchpoint. to consider the whole picture.

4. Think like a (different) human

When in doubt, put on someone else’s glasses (no, not literally—give those back!). Since we know it can be difficult to critique design when you aren’t a designer, use it to your advantage. Because you know who else is (probably) not a designer? The consumer. Challenging yourself to see the work from their perspective can surface new insights that may have gone unnoticed and help to anticipate consumer concerns. You can also challenge yourself to wear the lens of another team member. Considering the perspective of a branding expert who may not have any other context to the project can be useful to gauge first impressions and offer relevant feedback.

5. Change your mind

At the end of the day, we are one pretty smart and collaborative team all working to make the work better. When all that brainpower is brought to the same table, you will certainly learn something new that may affect how you were originally critiquing the design—and that’s amazing! Be open to having your mind changed during the critique process, and trust that process.

Want to see more real-life results of this collaboration? Check out our work here.

by Olivia Howe