As a designer, and an artist, I get asked all the time to critique other people’s work. I enjoy doing it. But the one thing I have learned over the years… if you ask someone for a critique.. do yourself a favor and ACTUALLY listen to what they have to say. Now that doesn’t mean that a critique should be taken as gold… it is an opinion. The best way to handle critiques.. listen, don’t argue and don’t offer excuses. Thank the person who’s advice you were given and go home or take a break and filter through it. If they offered you 5 things to fix.. that doesn’t mean you need to fix all 5 things, but you should at least TRY to consider 1 or two..especially if you’re hearing the same critiques from multiple people.
I can’t tell you the amount of times i’ve had people offer excuses, arguments etc etc. Now of course there is a fine line to this… as artists, we all have our own style, and maybe the person who’s just critiqued you doesn’t have the same style or taste as your own. So keep that in mind. When you’re looking for someone to critique your work, make sure to look at their own work, figure out what styles they like. I am not a pink fan.. so anyone coming to me with a pink project they want critiqued will probably get less enthusiasm than if it were another color.
I hope you all have been healthy, happy and well…. will probably post up some of our latest works in a little bit.
Have a good one!
Jen
JW Design Center
http://www.jwdesigncenter.com
The Personal Blog of a UX Designer 