Feedback on your design work as a graphic designer should not be given by the CEO?

Have you heard that employees need feedback to grow into the best employees?

I recently read that in business management there is a high focus on feedback and how feedback helped make people be more productive in their work performance. While you might think the CEO’s feedback would be the most relevant to your design work however I find that it is not for this particular type of work. Feedback on your design work as a graphic designer should not be given by the CEO. The CEO should not give feedback on color, fonts or space to use in the design itself.

Certainly you should welcome any feedback and criticism that your client offers because it will enhance your ability to provide designs your client needs. So, why not from the CEO? Design work is heavily driven by competition, seasonal work and subject to the economy. To be successful in graphic design you need to be able to envelope ideas from your surroundings, be inspired easily and have the ability to mentally imagine what is being described by a person or marketing team. Most of all you must be able to explore your creativity and adequately display that in your design.

Designers do not need instructions

Designers do not need instructions but instead feedback on the problems that might appear. Most requests however are more of an idea that you base your work off of. You must then try to bring the idea to life in your designs. For example if you are designing a banner ad you may be given a general concept of what the ad is for, colors or an idea of what symbols the client wants included.

Graphic design is a very competitive field that is so very difficult to thrive in for more than a year or two due to the volatile nature of the business many cannot overcome the constant need for change. As with technology a graphic design style may be obsolete by the time you are fully up to speed on a technique. Designers are under an insane amount of pressure which is very stressful. Criticism from the CEO may create even more undue stress and increase the risk of failure. By the time the graphic designer begins working on a project the marketing team has likely already formed a marketing plan that has been approved by upper management including the CEO. The plans are based on research and focus group results that represent how the public perceives your client. Once the details of the requirement have been collected designers will ask questions for clarification and explore multiple possibilities while working on a design project until the client is happy with the end results.

Develop a working relationship with the designer

CEO direct feedback may result in pressure due to his/her stature to design only to the liking of that one individual’s tastes and not represent the desired image of the corporation or company. Should a CEO need to critique your work he/she should express their criticisms through the proper management personnel back to you. CEOs do not typically have a one on one relationship with graphic designers. The best received feedback comes from someone within the clients company that has developed a working relationship with the designer.