When it comes to customer feedback over logo design projects, there are two very well defined types of feedback which are usually given by two very well defined types of clients. While the first type understand that design is as mix of art and science and hire a designer for the skill and experience he does not have himself, the second type of client believes that design is a word that means ‘to make something look pretty’, and will hire someone to translate his vision into something that ‘looks nice’.
The sort of feedback you’ll get from each type of client will reflect this two opposite ways of thinking about design. The first type of client will think in abstract and strategic terms, while the second will usually provide feedback that directly influence the design.
In my experience, letting a logo design be influenced by a literal costumer feedback will usually result in bad logo design. I very much prefer to prevent that from happening by providing a detailed description explaining the reasons behind design choices. That in itself is sufficient to satisfy the first type of client, and any feedback provided after that is usually in abstract or strategic terms leaving enough room for visual interpretation.
The second type of client usually will provide literal feedback which directly influence the design like the changing of colours, alignment of elements or—as usual—to make the logo bigger. For this type of client, the best solution is to educate the client in order to convert him to a first client scenario. This require a much more active communication channel, but can be very rewarding as the client learns to trust you as an expert in your field.
Whatever the situation, I strongly recommend designers to never ask a client if they ‘like’ the work, instead present your work with confidence and wait for a feedback. The simple act of asking for a feedback in such way suggests that design is something just to be ‘liked’ or ‘disliked’, in opposition of being something based on skills and experience.
Hey, I’m a Client, Why Giving Literal Feedback is Bad Practice
A well crafted design is for a professional designer what a well cooked dish is for a chef. If you change one element of the recipe, you change the entire final result. When you give literal feedback to your designer you are changing parts of the design recipe and changing the final result without understanding on how each part of the recipe interact with each-other, and the reasons why the designer choose those elements to start with.
If you find hard to understand the metaphor, here’s some food for thought. A designer, as any other profession, is someone that usually is more prepared and experienced in their own area of expertise than you are, so if you’re able to trust on a chef to prepared a dish better than you, why not trust on a designer to design you a professional logo?