Graphic Design: In the form of an interactive discussion interact with your clas

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Graphic Design:

In the form of an interactive discussion interact with your classmates about the following topic. What the difference between a brainstorming session and aAnatomy of a Critique: The Art of Analysis Arunas P. Oslapas, Associate Professor Western Washington University What Is a Critique? Analysis. Evaluation. Commentary. Judgment. Essentially, a design critique is an honest, subjective opinion about another’s creative work that covers a variety of issues including, but not limited to content, form, execution, and presentation. In the eighteenth-century, the verb, critique, meaning “to review or discuss critically” was originally neutral between praise and censure but because of the verb criticize, today it is mainly used in a negative sense. Intent of a Critique The goal of a critique is a combination of the following: a) Identify the strengths and weaknesses of a piece. b) Offer constructive advice that might lead to improvement. c) Choose a direction or make a decision. d) Begin a constructive discourse beneficial to the individual, team, and project. e) Assist the designer in their personal development. f) Help to develop an attitude and discerning eye of both designer and critic. It is imperative for designers to learn an effective critique process and to be able to accept criticism as well because “If you don’t know what’s wrong, how can you fix it?” As a service-based discipline, clients, consumers, engineers, marketing professionals, and design managers will continually be assessing and changing a designer’s work. This messy iterative process we call design is solidly based on feedback and change. Objective Opinions Are an Oxymoron Critiques are not objective opinions and can never be. Commentaries are subjective; that’s why we call them opinions. Don’t pretend to be objective in your comments—to stake such a claim is unfair to both critic and designer. As a critic, there are different perspectives, experiences, skills, and so forth, and it would be counterproductive to deny this diversity. Rules of Engagement Critiquing is a process of reflection, analysis, interpretation, and, finally, judgment. These skills can be taught but it takes time and practice to learn them well. Specific instruction is helpful on how to comment on other people's work, develop an analytical/emotional vocabulary and how to influence change in a design proposal. The following are guidelines or rules of engagement for developing an effective evaluation process. These have been pieced together from casual discussions with students and faculty, research assessment techniques from other disciplines, and years of personal trial and error. Expectations Design is about communication. At the beginning of a review session, lay out the expectations so everyone involved understands the ground rules and goals. Discuss the categories to be covered and points to be assessed. Critiques should be relevant to specific subject matter. A statement of intent or design criteria by the designer is particularly important in giving evaluators a context for their comments. Investigate Not Interrogate As an evaluator, understand the concept or proposal before you start commenting. Stop, look, and listen. Ask questions to clarify the goals or objectives of the concept. Critiques should be more of an investigation than an interrogation. Only after a good understanding of the design intent, can you begin to analyze how well the solution fulfilled those objectives. Get to the Point Frequent, short, and focused critique sessions are most productive. Nobody tolerates one-sided filibusters for very long. Brief, concise comments are easy to remember and if clarification is needed it can always be solicited later. If you are critiquing student work, remember that they were up the past two nights and have reduced attention spans caused by fatigue. Set time limits. Typically, the first projects evaluated get the most time and the last half are rushed through. Keep an eye on the clock to be fair to all presenters. Remember, quality over quantity. In his book, Blink, Malcolm Gladwell states that, “Decisions made very quickly can be every bit as good as decisions made cautiously and deliberately.” 1 On the popular television show, American Idol, it only takes a few seconds to evaluate an audition. With this in mind, developing rapid cognition skills and an oral response is vital. As a critic, learn to trust your intuition and how to verbalize thoughts and comments clearly. Keep in mind though that expressing oneself thoroughly with intellectual depth can be very beneficial. Deeper insights may come to the critic hours or even days later after a period of reflection and incubation. There is, however, a danger of over analyzing and losing the freshness of a first impression. Also remember that most of our work ends up in retail environments that are strongly based on first impressions. Nonetheless, quality judgments can still be made in a short time. Be Honest Don’t beat around the bush! Most evaluators are too nice, especially inexperienced ones. Too often, critics soften the blow and the true comments are not fully communicated. One can offer encouragement but still be honest with what needs fixing. Give praise where praise is due. Cheer when someone hits a homerun. We all need to be told when we are getting it right but we also need to be reminded when we have missed the mark, otherwise we cannot grow. In addition, when you are stumped or undecided on your comments, admit it. You can’t possibly know all things nor have an opinion on everything. Remember Your Role Recognize the variety in the talent, age, and skill when voicing your comments. There are many levels of design maturity and it is unfair to critique a freshman doing her first foam core model in the same way you might offer commentary to a senior who has been studying design for four years. When working with students, remember that "We are nurturing young, creative spirits. They are a precious commodity and our responsibility is to respect their ideas while guiding them and helping to build their skills." 2 Creative development is a perpetual maturation process that lasts our entire life and it is important to develop a healthy process for growth through the evaluation and feedback of our work. Don’t Be a Back Seat Driver Nobody likes to be told what to do. So, don’t tell the designer how to do something unless assistance is solicited. Instead, help identify problems you see, and let them go from there. Designers are born problem solvers, and they will respect you for not being a back seat driver. "Students have an investment in their creative work, and there must be a balance between just making changes that people suggest without taking ownership in the piece, and digging in their heels and refusing to look at something with fresh eyes. To me it is a delicate balance." 3 Two Positives A critique is not only the time to bring up problems with a design, but also to highlight what is successful. Begin a critique with two compliments before any negative comments. Beginning with positive reinforcement engages the attention of the individual and makes them more receptive to the subsequent comments about improvement. For example, if someone begins a conversation by blasting an individual, the fight-or-flight response is triggered, and either the individual will become defensive and begin arguing the point, or shut down and not listen to anything further. Alternating praise with the constructive criticism is a good strategy for keeping the individual engaged throughout the critiquing process. Focus on Improvement Try to give feedback on what should be changed. Remember, that the purpose of a critique is to identify the weaknesses in the piece and offer some constructive advice to the designer that might lead to improvement. You can find fault with almost any product. Go the next step. Be constructive. Pick areas of improvement. It is helpful to give examples of the improvements, if possible. Give an example of a better way to do what you pointed out, you make your point much clearer to the designer and give them something to ponder and consider. Generate a Rich Discussion Make critiques inclusive. There is nothing more satisfying than to be part of a stimulating peer discussion where individuals come away with new knowledge and inspiration. Involve all people concerned in a participatory discussion that moves the project forward. A critique is not the time to show how smart you are. Although most designers are at the mercy of management dictums (or students wanting to know what their professors think), engaging the whole team/class is important. Multiple brains and viewpoints are infinitely better than one. The designers have been working on the problem far longer than their superiors so they can usually contribute more in a critique than the latter. Learning the Language When discussing concepts, learn a common critique language that helps both the designer and their superior verbalize their feelings and opinions. Tangible issues such as function, features, and material selection require an analytical or technical vocabulary that addresses concrete issues that can be weighed or measured. Make sure that those in the room have common definitions of the terminology used. The intangibles such as form, aesthetics, and color require a different language; an emotional language that addresses feelings, reactions, preferences, and so forth. Fluency in the latter language takes more practice and is not always understood by engineering, accounting, or management. Beware of nebulous design buzz terms like “clean lines,” “retro,” “techno,” and “friendly” because they hold different meanings for different people. Redundantly clarify or rephrase your interpretation of those types of words. Instilling a common language in a classroom or corporate culture takes time but it can be done and is worth the effort. Don’t Make It Personal Design by its nature is a very personal thing, so you need to separate the design from the designer. An evaluation should be of the work, not the person. Never criticize the designer. By evaluating the work, a person’s abilities, methods, and skills can be improved. Discussing the work itself, not the individual, helps to depersonalize the critique and focus the attention on the design. Constructive criticism is constructive, not destructive. Just because you can give positive and negative comments during constructive criticism does not give you a license to be demoralizing towards another member. The purpose of a critique is to build strong designers, not destroy their fledgling egos. Understand the difference between flaming insults and useful critiques. Be professional and sincere. Authentic sincerity can be felt and tends to be respected and it’s harder to take a comment personally when someone is sincere. Sometimes it’s not what you say, but how you say it that makes the difference. Prejudice and Bias Human nature dictates that we are bound to treat people differently. Be conscious that your relationship to the designer presenting does not cloud your evaluation or expectation of their work. Sometimes, we become too concerned with an individual’s potential negative response to harsh feedback that it tempers our comments to avoid conflict or soften the blow. That does not help either party. Most designers genuinely want to know how they can improve. Be open minded to new ideas even if they do not sit well with you initially. Unsubstantiated Comments “I don’t like it…” is unacceptable and is one of the least helpful things you can say. Think before you speak. Never make a comment without a reason or justification that you can’t verbalize. The fact that orange isn’t your favorite color means very little in the grand scheme of things. Instead, stick to what is concrete. Every “I don’t like it…” needs to be followed by a “because” or a clarification as to why you don’t like it. Justify your opinion. Explain why you feel the way you do about the work based on what you have learned about it and how it meets or does not meet the intended criteria. Opportunities for Adjustment Western Washington University Professor Emeritus, Marvin Southcott, used to say to his students, “There are no mistakes in design, just opportunities for adjustment.” We learn from our mistakes. In fact, we learn more from our mistakes than our successes. Corporate guru Tom Peters says, “Failure is the only precursor to success.” 4 We need to give students the permission to explore and make mistakes without associated penalties. Applaud mistakes but then show how they can be stepping-stones to successful solutions. Don’t Comment on Everything Criticism takes thought, time, and energy, and critiquing an entire studio class or office design project can be an exhausting experience. It is unnecessary to make a comment on every single point with every single piece of work. In a short period of time, comments in a group setting become redundant, and the effectiveness of the commentary begins to wane. Previous comments can certainly be applied to subsequent concepts presented. Group critiques help us learn from each other’s successes and failures and opportunities to compare alternative solutions. Documentation Put comments down in writing. A written evaluation can be reread and clarified at a later date. It is also difficult to remember all the comments made during the heat of the moment. People tend to remember what they want to remember. Analytical inventories such as evaluation matrices, rating systems, pros and cons, and so forth can also be valuable comparative tools when deciding between many concepts. These work well for tracking quantities of measurable data, however, there are other factors that are difficult to quantify the using point systems. Points work for tangible data but are hard to measure when applied to the qualitative aspects of a piece (i.e., the wow factor). These highly subjective aspects can be documented in written form or discussed more philosophically. Since the legibility of my writing is declining and my typing is worse, I recently began voice recording individual project reviews a few days after the formal critique was over. While comments were still fresh in my mind and with the work in front of me, I would privately summarize comments made by myself or paraphrase class comments on a digital voice recorder. With fresh eyes, I also gained new insights and clarity since the presentation. After saving the audio files, I would then e-mail them to each student individually. The follow-up digital audio review has been extremely well received by the students, and I continue to refine this process today. Conclusion The ability to critique is somewhat unnatural and takes time, effort, and practice to develop. It is a rich improvisational opportunity to teach, direct, nurture, and inspire both the critic and the ‘critiquee.’ This influential responsibility has powerful effects for change and should not be taken lightly.

Explanation / Answer

Brainstorming is nothing but to produce ideas or points to design or construct anything by conducting the group discussion. Where as the critique is the discussion about the flaws and goodness in the product or design or anything which is completed one.

These both two different things. Brainstorming is generally will be conducted before the design to get one basic idea of how might get the design. Criticism is the process of identifying the flaws in the design or how it might get developed more like that. If the all things are at thr right place then to identify the working like this are generally involved in the criticism.

The main thing here is in the brainstorming sessions one can think upto any extent inorder to produce the idea there is no limits. But in the process of criticism the critique must follow certain guidelines even if there is many no if flaws. Critics must control their emotions while giving the review because the main purpose of them is to identify the flaws any and to produce one idea to the desiner to overcome that, not to discourage the designers by using harsh criticism.

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