nundroo
Being a Perturbed Designer
Every designer worth his or her salt is self critical. Your personal judgement changes with the abilities, skills and knowledge you gain. Something you might have produced a few years ago will not pass your current criteria. All in all, this is a fairly natural process which is not exclusive to design as such. However, being self critical can be a serious pain in the ass at times.
What is important to remember
is to never let self criticism
become counter productive.
What is important to remember is to never let self criticism become counter productive. Deadlines are set to be met, and not to be postponed endlessly, whether it be personal projects (such as a blog) or professional client work. Moreover, a bad case of being self critical can lead to serious frustrations about your own work, which will reflect on the people you are working with and your clients.
Many times I have thought of disposing of a design seconds before it was due to launch, usually with regard to personal projects, where deadlines matter only to myself (so, essentially they do not matter.) You are as good as your last design, and that is sometimes a scary thought. But in practice your last design may not be your best, for whatever reason. Of course you want every new project to kick serious butt and show off your abilities and skills the best you can – me too.
Design can be tough
Every designer has moments when anything that is produced sucks, atleast judged by their own criteria. This is where team work can be very effective, motivating each other and finding solutions to design problems – or complimenting good work. Working alone, on a personal project, results in a tunnel vision, that is rarely productive. You forget the big picture and how you came to produce the design in front of you. Sure, sometimes a design may truly be less good. But why is that? Is it because you just do not like it, aesthetically, or is there more. Try to evaluate what is wrong with your current design, just concluding that it is not good enough will not help you much.
In the end your design will never be good enough, whether judged mainly by your own criteria or sometimes by those of others. You might reach a point where you are satisfied about how it looks, but it can always be improved. Nothing is perfect in this world, and I think that is a good thing. I truly believe that if you are 100% happy about the result you have not tried hard enough. But remember: do not let self criticism dictate your will to design. As with probably everything in life, apply it with care and some limitations.
Discussion is open — there are 
19
reader comments 
add yours
1 
19 July 2004 23:17
Well worded, with some good advice on how to channel that nagging feeling of “suckiness” into something positive (kickstarting an objective evaluation).
2 19 July 2004 23:24
Being self-critical is both a gift and curse.
The Gift part allows you to continuosly try to improve. I agree that once you are satisfied you lessen your chances of growth. However, that leads us to the Curse…
Where if you are never satisfied, nothing gets done. Striving for perfection will leave you both insane and without money. It’s definitely a fine line to walk and why it is always good to ask for feedback from peers, especially when working alone.
3 20 July 2004 00:56
After I complete a design, I have a hard time even looking at it because I’ll start to pick it apart. So, I rarely visit the sites I’ve designed or even look through my portfolio. This is one of the things I find myself doing to curb the high intensity of the self-criticism that’ll follow. I hear there are some movie directors that do this, as well.
4 20 July 2004 01:50
As critical as I might be of visual designs during and after the design process, I’m way more critical of the code in implementing them - especially afterwards (hindsight can crush a groove big time). I suppose it’s ironic since it’s arguably the piece of that few would be critical of anyhow.
5 20 July 2004 02:52
Very well put Didier. I’m very critical of my own work and it has affected the quality and deadlines before because I scrap something at the last minute. It’s nice to hear that others go through this as well.
What does everyone do to break out of this cycle (if you can)?
6 20 July 2004 03:25
Wow, I hear that. I just finished an article along the same lines, except I am put off by CSS :D
7 20 July 2004 06:11
Oh, I definitely concur. I am my own worst enemy. What’s worse is that a lot of people don’t believe it when I criticize my own work, because to them, it’s fine—but to me, I notice all the little nuances that isn’t “just right.”
Learning to put space between yourself and your design is something I think a person needs to really make an effort to do. I know I do. However, I realise the moment I let all the crap “go” and perceptions of what people expect of me, or what I expect of myself, I come out with some of my best or more original works. So sometimes, I do something completely crazy to just offset perceptions (e.g. my current blog design which people who know me thought was a wild move on my part).
I think it’s important to do something off-kilter once in a while to stir the creative juices.
8 20 July 2004 12:46
Well-said, I know exactly what you’re talking about. I’ve been working on my new site (my first blog) for god knows how long already, I’ve redesigned the design over 6 times already, and just as I thought I’d finished it, Andrei makes me realize the importance of simplicity (which is absent in my new design).
So I was actually considering dropping this design that I’ve worked so long on already, but decided against it. Your entry here made me feel much better about that decision, especially this line:
“Deadlines are set to be met, and not to be postponed endlessly, …”
I’m going to strive to keep my deadline of opening before October 1st of this year. I’ll redesign the site with simplicity in mind later on, and for now I’ll just use the complexity of the design for some interesting entries/articles. Hurray for content!
9 20 July 2004 16:30
Faruk,
Aint in the truth!!!
I have procrastenated so long on my site, agonising more on copy than design (forgive me for I have sinned! :) ) .
I think sometimes you just have to call it a day and have the balls to present what you have worked on.
Fear of failure is a crippling force…a main reason I never studies for exams back iin highschool!!!
10 20 July 2004 16:52
Your observations couldn’t come at a more appropriate time. I am designing my portfolio right now and looking back at seven years of design by committee (almost everything I have ever done is in-house). Self-analysis is good, but depression lurks. For myself it’s even harder as I have no degree and very limited education beyond high-school and in design I am completely auto-didactic. I am plagued by doubts of my ‘professionalism’.
I find myself confronted with having to take responsibility for design decisions that, given other circumstances, I would never have made.
The process is also instructive about maintaining a portfolio. Up until recently, I never really thought about having a well designed one or maintaining it. Now, I believe it’s critical (yes, sometimes I am late to the party), and intend to introduce new work as it’s completed and remove the one that’s worse than the new one.
Thanks for your perspective. I appreciate it.
11 20 July 2004 18:06
Excellent entry. The difficulties realized by designers woring to balance content, user interface and ego can be, at times, overwhelming. “Not good enough” is definately not constructive criticism. Though we do not always have the luxury to do so, taking a step back and clearing the mind and eyes is an invaluable part of the creative process. Again, great article.
12 20 July 2004 19:55
It was good to read this as I was being self critical today on a site I had spent many hours on over the last fortnight.
I had just about finished today and then decided I did not like it. I guess this can come about due to the fact you spend so many hours working on a design that in the end no matter how good or bad it is you are sick of looking at it.
Karl
13 20 July 2004 21:11
I liken it to personal appearance — we are so used to ourselves naked (with all the attendant mis-shapen-ness and moles and odd hairs [is that cancer?!?]) that we forget that most of the world never sees us in that way.
But WE KNOW, don’t we…..?
14 21 July 2004 03:24
Well said Didier, I am currently working a design for my daughter’s blog, I’ve been on it a couple of days and I am in that obscure region between “I like it” and “Forget it!, let’s start again from the beginning!”
Sometimes we want to force ourselves to accept something because we have invested time on it and don’t dare to start all over again.
Being self critical is very important but you can’t take forever in getting a final design, specially when you have customers waiting and bills to pay.
It is a really delicate balance, careful planning and sketching is very important.
My wife only needed a couple of seconds to destroy my “in progress” design, and my designer ego, her “Could we make those letters bigger and change color?” did not hurt so much as her “No, I don’t need my glasses to look at it!”
I guess you all have felt that kind of designer pain :)
Anyways, I have some good comments by Bowman, Shea, Inman and other talented guys on “two first steps on web designing” in my blog, you can take a look.
Regards!
15 22 July 2004 03:22
I am my own worst critic too. I think it’s the nature of all designers and artists to be overly harsh on themselves, and you’re right: it is this tendancy that makes us more successful in the long run. I do try to keep in mind though, that most of the time the reason I am disappointed in a project is that I had too many time/budget retraints (and often an employer who lacked proper understanding) to blame.
I love the blogroll map. I don’t think I’ve seen that done before. Brilliant. I bet it could get crowded though.
16 22 July 2004 07:44
My goodness.. I so feel you on this one. I’ve discarded my blog design for so many times… heheh. now I’m currently working on another layout.
Great blog, btw!
17 23 July 2004 23:12
I work step by step and each step is an achievement. With every achievement I like to bathe in the satisfaction. It doesn’t usually last long before I have to change or add but then I get to bathe in the satisfaction once more. I rarely get any praise from anyone so it is important for me to keep on achieving another step. I am self-critical enough not to rest on my laurels too long and I think it is the self-criticism that keeps making me take one more step but which also brings those moments of satisfaction at the same time.
Perhaps the more self-criticism, the more satisfaction?
18 26 July 2004 08:27
Everyone gets this way occassionally, and I think I’ll have to print this off to remind myself to keep at it. ;D
Sometimes, you just have to relinquish the need to be a perfectionist, and leave the design for version 2.
I always find that the MINUTE I put something up, I’ve learnt so many new things in the process that it makes the old design obsolete.
I believe that blogs should be a chronicle of progress, just as much as it is you at the best of your game.
The only thing that’s worse than the design that never comes is the designer that doesn’t improve with time. ;D
19 29 July 2004 11:39
I completely agree with you. I’ve had my fair shares of ‘self-criticism days’ where I thought I’d shoot myself before letting the project out to the public.
The most helpfull thing I have found is to step back when in this ‘phase’. Relax the eyes and most importantly the mind. Take time to relax and let further ideas ‘happen’. Unless, ofcourse, you have a few overly stressfull clients and 6 deadlines to meet the next day!
Great article, bookmarked your blog. :)
Copyright © 2004 Didier Hilhorst. All Rights Reserved.
Remember that this is a personal web site — its content does not reflect the position or opinion of my respective employers or academic institutions.
Syndication — RSS 2.0 XML Atom
0.3 Feed
16 July 2004
