Don't Mince Matters

Criticism is a basic condition for your own progress – especially when your profession lacks definite quality criteria you could consult for your self-assessment. But we all know these situations: a colleague asks you to have a closer look at a new work he did – and maybe it's not as good as you think it could be. Maybe it's terrible. But among designers it doesn't seem to be usual to clearly come out with the own actual opinion one has been asked for.

Khoi Vinh (follow him on twitter) published a very nice article in his «Substraction» blog on this problem of mincing matters and the necessity for criticism in design.

Sometimes I wonder, then: given that everyone in design seems to more or less know everyone else, are we really having the kinds of meaningful, constructive, critical discourses that we really should be having? Are we too quick to take offense at the opinions of our peers?
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And yet, those critiques are so important. The notion of speaking openly, honestly and objectively about work is inherent to learning how to be a better designer. That’s why every design school uses critiques as a core tool of teaching design.

As I'm still a student of visual communication I'm used to see my work being criticised and questioned by my mentors. But my fellow students and me already realized that we often have to fight for constructive and detailed feedback. That's why we established our own weekly feedback meetings to talk about the projects of one or two students per session to provide critique as well as advice. Suprisingly these student meetings seem to push the projects on much more than the sessions with our mentors.

Like it or not, you can’t have a serious discourse about an art form until you have people whose sole involvement in that art form is criticism.

The developments of the way design is tought at academies and universities point up that an omnipresent phenomena like visual design can't be perceived as cultural decor anymore. The Visual Communication Institute of the Academy of Art and Design UAS Northwestern Switzerland for example will establish an MfA this year that focuses on image and design research. Special about the new Master is that also students of culture-theoretical disciplines are accepted. It's the intention to cultivate a dialog about design practice between the ones who actual work in design and the ones who are engaged in a theoretical examination. As much as I fear a hyperbolized «academization», I see the chance that such efforts may lead to a new culture of criticism in design.

That starts, of course, with us, each of us. It starts with not getting pissed off when one of us lobs complaints about another’s work.

Yeah, I think this article brings some things up we all in secret already know. It is hard to face critique – especially when you realize that it hits the bullseye. But I will definitly try to keep giving useful feedback as I will try to accept and appreciate being given feedback. That's the big challenge when the years abundant with dialog and discussion at the academy are over. That's my start!