12 tips for working with designers

Everyone who has worked with a designer has probably encountered surprising situations: A designer didn’t respond well to changes. A designer couldn’t seem to get the design right. A designer didn’t follow your directions. Each situation is different, but here is a short list of tips for working with designers that will help to make the process more smooth, enjoyable, and effective.

1. Provide as much relevant information as possible. Design is a visual expression of an idea. The more information you provide the designer about your idea, product, service, process, and your customers and goals, the better the design results will be.
2. Answer questions. Designers ask a lot of questions. Don’t get annoyed by this — it’s a good thing. Again, provide as much information as possible. Discuss. Make sure the designer understands where you are coming from.
3. Ask questions. When providing feedback, don’t just mark up changes. If something seems odd, inquire about why the designer made that decision. The designer should have good reasons, and understanding those reasons can help you to formulate your response for more effective results.
4. Allow time for research. Research is an indispensable step in the design process. The faster the turnaround time you demand, the more time gets taken away from research. This can lead to uninformed design — generic logos, incomplete concepts, oversights, etc. Allow plenty of time for research — it is s as important as the actual time spent in executing design.
5. Be careful when asking for design changes. Making big changes or many small changes can completely denature a design. Unity, balance, dynamic tension, etc. can be lost. Changes will need to be made, but talk to the designer about them to ensure that you get what you expect.
6. Don’t make design decisions based on what you like. Everyone wrestles with this. The most common objection to a design is, “I don’t like it.” No response is more frustrating to a designer. Ultimately, all that matters to a design is branding and generating the desired response. If you truly don’t like something, try to figure out why. There might be a good reason. But if there isn’t, don’t let preferences get in the way of a potentially successful design.
7. Focus on communication over creativity. Your message should take precedence over a cool idea. The design is just a means to communicate your message. Never bend your brand to try to fit it into a clever idea or visual, however much you might like it. If it’s not a good fit, it will feel forced and amateur.
8. Use the minimum effective amount of copy in advertising. If customers responded to text alone, we wouldn’t need design at all. We’d just cover everything with text. The reason design exists is to initiate communication and generate an emotional response without reading lines and lines of copy. Once engagement occurs you can begin informing. And all the information does not need to be on the ad — ads drive people elsewhere. Don’t be afraid of not saying enough. Advertising is visceral, not cerebral. If you try to persuade with bullet points and body copy, you’re going to lose your audience and frustrate the designer.
9. Don’t think too much. Over-thinking is the nemesis of good design. If you stare at a design for long enough, you’re going to start seeing problems and things you can change. This can lead to a whole series of little changes and “tweaks” that don’t actually improve the design at all.
10. Don’t use your friends/colleagues as a focus group. This is also known as design by committee, and it’s the best way to homogenize, blandify, and otherwise rob a design of its effective power. Some people are going to love a design. Others are going to hate it. If you try to please everyone, the result won’t speak strongly to anyone. Furthermore, when you ask a non-designer for their opinion, that person will feel like they have to find something wrong with it in order to be helpful. It’s okay to get feedback, but be very conservative about what feedback you implement.
11. Allow designers outside of the box. Everyone performs better with breaks during the day, but designers in particular need to have time during the day to explore beyond the scope of their projects. This can include browsing the web, reading magazines, playing games, and even just chatting. Not only will this result in improved creativity, but designers tend to be more accurate and productive when given this time.
12. Show appreciation. Designers respond to praise. When you like something or are impressed by something, say so. This is easy, but it’s often overlooked in our cold, corporate business world. A little appreciation can make a big difference in a designer’s attitude.

Feel free to add to the list, comment, or disagree. I’d love to hear your thoughts.