Delivering creative feedback

Abstract

Delivering useful, honest and effective feedback to creatives is one of the biggest daily challenges faced by producers, supervisors, teachers, etc. When critiques feel subjective, feedback loops can have negative effects on morale and production, regardless of the validity of the criticism.Art and design students learn and practice critique every day during, but after they embark on their careers those skills are quickly forgotten. For professionals in technical and scientific fields, where solutions and hypotheses can be proven right or incorrect, giving feedback on subjective matters (where all answers are shades of grey) or providing constructive criticism face to face can be very challenging.Whether you are dusting off old skills or learning critique techniques for the first time, this hands-on workshop provides a simple, effective framework for delivering actionable criticism to your team everyday, regardless of environment. The course shows attendees how to establish a structure for providing critique that works in creative, technical, and academic environments, and then focuses on some specific techniques for delivering feedback.Topics include: client expectations, defining expectations, problem definition, and constraints in creative briefs that serve as the backbone for the project or assignment; methods for delivering feedback against the brief; and the importance of building and sustaining environments that sustain trust and foster open and direct feedback. Actual critique methods are practiced in small groups during the course.