How To Give & Take Art Director Feedback

Learning how to give and receive creative feedback is probably one of the most underrated soft skills of the art director position. If given or received carelessly, it has the ability to fracture confidence, team dynamics, and the overall creative product. So what are the best ways to approach feedback on the giving and receiving end? Well... I have a quick, tip-filled video if you'd like to find out!
-
If you're interesting in diving deeper into the art director career path and building your very own portfolio from scratch, check out my book Breaking into Art Direction over on Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B09S69MG6C/...

[@Ledatru]

Great video. Early in my career, feedback hurt mostly because it meant more work. I might agree 100% with the feedback and still secretly think, “Ugh, I have to do more work now.” But I think that was because I was in an unhealthy, high-stress work environment. Feedback meant I had to work late, sometimes very late, to meet tight deadlines. It was rare to have reasonable deadlines. I think if projects had reasonable schedules with ample time baked in to address feedback and work on revisions (multiple rounds of reviews/edits/iterations/etc.), my attitude towards feedback would be much healthier. Because then I would be addressing feedback during normal hours instead of scrambling and sacrificing my personal life. As I matured I learned to be more assertive and set boundaries and even ask for help if I felt like I was going to be put in that situation. I found that it helps to be upfront about these things but due to the nature of urgent projects and client demands, unhealthy timelines still happen. Is this normal? Was my agency just unhealthy or is this something you have encountered as well?

[@OpenDoorCreative]

That’s a great point you bring up. Deadlines can definitely be tough to hit so it’s important to bake time for potential internal feedback into the schedule/timeline. Even if that means that the first review of your creative is before you’re finished. For example, meeting with your CD two or more hours prior to delivery for an informal check in in case there are any watch outs or red flags can be an important step if you’re running short on time. Work in progress check ins give you the ability to problem solve together before you churn too far down a specific direction and makes sure there aren’t as many surprises or larger revisions when the deadline is looming.

[@Ledatru]

@@OpenDoorCreative Thanks! I started doing this as well, even having chats with accounts and my CD at the same time. Makes it a more collaborative process even across departments, and reduces stress for me.

[@OpenDoorCreative]

@@Ledatru love that

[@donnaa.ibelli5643]

Such great advice! I've been through almost all the situations you shared. It's great to see both sides.

[@jsaydesign6685]

Your videos are a great help!

[@OpenDoorCreative]

Thanks Jeremy!

[@Escaping_Heaven]

Awesome video! Just in time, thank you!

[@OpenDoorCreative]

Love to hear that!

[@larissadanilov8300]

Thank you so much for these videos! I m starting a new position as a lead designer and I m following your channel to help me prepare in this sense!

[@OpenDoorCreative]

Of course. Best of luck!!! Let me know if you need anything.

[@larissadanilov8300]

@@OpenDoorCreative i would be interested in knowing what would be a good toolkit or apps that can maybe organise better a team and the process. Maybe you already had discussed about this previously? Either way, would use some tips on this 🫂 thank you!

[@OpenDoorCreative]

@@larissadanilov8300 my day-to-day team organization is a free online site called Trello. Lots of customization to set it up for your needs. For something more in depth, we utilize Workfront for project management.

[@AHMEDMOSTAFA77]

Love your content my friend, keep it up!

[@OpenDoorCreative]

Appreciate that!

[@TLMOUSE]

Having a hard time getting the artdirector / creative director title. Any advice on how to get the title? I feel like I give more than I get. Thanks. Great content.

[@OpenDoorCreative]

What title are you at currently or what kinds of things are you doing at the moment? Check out my video on the art director career path. That could help.