Thanks to all for coming and participating in a fairly grueling two-hour session on the creative process tonight. Jason over at our friendly site North Temple has a relevant post about presenting your work and communicating with clients that fits nicely with tonight’s conversation:

And the ability to stand in front of two or several dozen stakeholders and defend your design is one that is required anywhere design is critical (really anywhere you’re being paid for your design).

Read the whole of his thoughts (Is that giving his post too much credit? I doubt it’s really the whole of his thoughts. But I digress.) here. How do you think that the points Jason raises will affect - if at all -the design process as you move through it?

Taking Critique

Sharing your work will, by design, open you up to critique. The web’s illustrator Kevin Cornell has a perfect write-up that deals with getting and taking critique. A sample:

When you’re first learning to take criticism, it can be very painful to hear. While it’s important to be able to emotionally invest yourself in art to make it meaningful, it’s also important to learn how to disengage yourself from it. When someone is offering criticism about your art, try to remain calm and objective. Imagine you’re looking at someone else’s work.

Substitute the word “art” for “design” and the message still holds true. Read the whole article here.

The point? I believe there is a metric tonne of truth in these two articles. Read them. Again. And again. Internalize them and allow the precepts to influence you as you learn and apply the design process.