Critiques
Graphic Design Solutions, by Robin Landa

A critique is an assessment, an evaluation of your project.
Assessing your solution maximizes your learning because it
forces you to reexamine the problem, to evaluate the way
you went about solving the problem, to determine how well
you used the design medium, and to see if you fulfilled your
objectives. Most design instructors hold a critique or critical
analysis after students create solutions to a design project.
Holding your own critique before you present your work to a
class, an instructor, or a client allows you to check your thinking
and gain insight into your particular style of problem solving.

How do you hold a critique?
Part I: The project
1. Restate the goal or aim of the project in your own words.
Make sure you understand the project or problem.

2. Did you fulfill the goal or did you miss the point of the
original problem? At times, you may come up with an approach
to a problem that does not directly answer the
problem, but you like it and pursue it regardless. Be aware
that sometimes it pays to let go of a gimmick or approach
that is not on target, even if you love it.

3. Is your solution appropriate for the purpose of the project? Often,
it can be difficult for beginners to determine when a design
or a design element is inappropriate. For example, if you design
a business card for a banker, you certainly would not want to
create a design that conveyed a playful or unstable spirit..

4. Is your solution appropriately executed?
Is your choice of color, media, size, and style right for the
purpose or goal of the problem.

5. Did you create a hierarchy of information?
Have you designed your solution so that your audience knows
what to read or look at first, second, and third?

6. Does your solution communicate the intended
message to your audience?
Ask people to tell you what message they are receiving from
your design.

Part II: The process
1. Did you do any research?
And if so, did you use it? If you did not do any research, how did
you gather information about the subject matter? Do you need
to do more? (Whether you go to the library, or access photo
archives, or use an encyclopedia on CD-ROM, make
sure you do research.).

2. How many thumbnail sketches and roughs did you do before creating the comp?
How much time did you spend thinking about
the problem? Did you go to the finish before
working out any bugs in the solution?.

3. Did you lock yourself into your own area of strength rather than experimenting with less familiar tools, techniques, or methods?
For example, if you always use the computer to create your
design, were you willing to try cut paper or another technique?

4. Did you make any false assumptions about what you could or
could not do, or did you take a positive approach and assume
you could do anything if you really tried? Did you experiment?
Experimentation is important; it can lead to exciting discoveries.
Even mistakes can yield interesting results. For example, if
you accidentally move an image while it is being photocopied,
the copy will be distorted. The distortion may be interesting
and appropriate for your needs. You can also use flip,
sketch, or skew commands on the computer to experiment.

5. Did you really become involved with the problem?
Did you use your intuition and feelings?
Was your solution personal or removed?
Not everyone finds the same subject matter or project
exciting. Remember, it is not the subject or the
project that is exciting, it is what you do with it..

6. Were you too judgmental? Did you give yourself a
chance to be creative? Were you patient with the project
and with yourself? Try to be as supportive of your
own work as you would be of a friend’s work..

7. Did you take chances? Were your solutions innovative?
Did you dare to be different, or did you
do what most people would do?
When the critique is held in class, one way to test
whether your solution is original is to notice how
many others came up with similar solutions.