How to tell a graphic designer their site needs work.
Let me preface this with a disclaimer: This is a humorous post. Don’t get mad as the references I am making are most likely about you. =p
“Check out my awesome site!” Says one graphic designer to another. All a flutter with expectation the second designer takes a look and with a few simple words creates the feud of a century. “What the fuck is that?” Lines are suddenly drawn in the cubical isles. The air crackles with heated glares until finally the graphic designer war begins. “Simple and clean!” Yells the first. “Shiny and futuristic!” Screams the second. And then off in the corner a well meaning but completely clueless designer jumps up and declares, “STAR BURSTS!!!” A hush falls over the combatants and all eyes turn to that lone soul who now quivers with fear. Ah yes, it’s 8am on a Monday morning. Do you know where your designers are?
While not all graphic designer conflicts can be as cool as ours, it does pose that interesting question of how do you tell someone you don’t like their site? Especially if you are both designers? Clearly everyone has their own personal styles and it can be pretty hard to take advice. But it’s also equally hard to give advice and not feel as though you are stepping on everyone’s toes. So here’s a couple of tips I like to use myself.
The Butter Up
Not everything has to be a conflict or an automatic dislike. The site could have a lot of merit but just lack a few key items that might make it pop. The key here is to mention the artists previous designs and why you may have liked them more than this current endeavor. Using the word “spoiled” is also highly recommended. IE: “To be honest, I liked your last site better. It had an amazing wow factor! I guess you’ve just spoiled me with that one.” Instant butter makes everything smooth.
Lets Just Tweak It
The goal of “Lets just tweak it” is to slowly nick-pick away at things until it’s what you wanted it to be in the first place. Sometimes this creates an entirely different end product than the original. This is known as the Behind The Back Tweaksies. Very dangerous if left in the wrong hands. IE: “You know, what if we moved this phrase here and then moved that image over to the left a bit. Good good. Now lets just flip this over here and that right there and bam! Look at that beautiful BMW site.” Original Designer, ” Wait, what? My site was about Narwhals!!”
Friggen Leave It Alone
This is one of the greatest tools yet often the least used. It’s not your design so friggen leave it alone! Sometimes you just have to back off and realize that not everyone can be as awesome as you and therefore must be left to fend for themselves. There are hundreds even thousands of websites out there and chances are there will always be ones that will make you cringe and attempt to suppress the inevitable gag reflex. Chances are also that you probably aren’t looking at one of those, you nick picking, smart mouthed graphic designer nerf herder! Yeah I said it.
So that’s my insider view on how to handle these types of situations. Sometimes you might need some good ole butter, other days you may need the tweaksies, but more than likely you should always use the leave it alone card.
Your Site Sucks
How to tell a graphic designer their site needs work.
Let me preface this with a disclaimer: This is a humorous post. Don’t get mad as the references I am making are most likely about you. =p
“Check out my awesome site!” Says one graphic designer to another. All a flutter with expectation the second designer takes a look and with a few simple words creates the feud of a century. “What the fuck is that?” Lines are suddenly drawn in the cubical isles. The air crackles with heated glares until finally the graphic designer war begins. “Simple and clean!” Yells the first. “Shiny and futuristic!” Screams the second. And then off in the corner a well meaning but completely clueless designer jumps up and declares, “STAR BURSTS!!!” A hush falls over the combatants and all eyes turn to that lone soul who now quivers with fear. Ah yes, it’s 8am on a Monday morning. Do you know where your designers are?
While not all graphic designer conflicts can be as cool as ours, it does pose that interesting question of how do you tell someone you don’t like their site? Especially if you are both designers? Clearly everyone has their own personal styles and it can be pretty hard to take advice. But it’s also equally hard to give advice and not feel as though you are stepping on everyone’s toes. So here’s a couple of tips I like to use myself.
The Butter Up
Not everything has to be a conflict or an automatic dislike. The site could have a lot of merit but just lack a few key items that might make it pop. The key here is to mention the artists previous designs and why you may have liked them more than this current endeavor. Using the word “spoiled” is also highly recommended. IE: “To be honest, I liked your last site better. It had an amazing wow factor! I guess you’ve just spoiled me with that one.” Instant butter makes everything smooth.
Lets Just Tweak It
The goal of “Lets just tweak it” is to slowly nick-pick away at things until it’s what you wanted it to be in the first place. Sometimes this creates an entirely different end product than the original. This is known as the Behind The Back Tweaksies. Very dangerous if left in the wrong hands. IE: “You know, what if we moved this phrase here and then moved that image over to the left a bit. Good good. Now lets just flip this over here and that right there and bam! Look at that beautiful BMW site.” Original Designer, ” Wait, what? My site was about Narwhals!!”
Friggen Leave It Alone
This is one of the greatest tools yet often the least used. It’s not your design so friggen leave it alone! Sometimes you just have to back off and realize that not everyone can be as awesome as you and therefore must be left to fend for themselves. There are hundreds even thousands of websites out there and chances are there will always be ones that will make you cringe and attempt to suppress the inevitable gag reflex. Chances are also that you probably aren’t looking at one of those, you nick picking, smart mouthed graphic designer nerf herder! Yeah I said it.
So that’s my insider view on how to handle these types of situations. Sometimes you might need some good ole butter, other days you may need the tweaksies, but more than likely you should always use the leave it alone card.