August 30, 2022

Direct, Suggest, Comment

I love getting feedback. If I didn’t, I’d never share anything I create with anyone. Feedback is what helps us know if people feel the same things as us, or see things a different way. But, even though feedback is glorious, it’s also confronting. Disagreement can be uncomfortable at the best of times, it can be diabolical at the worst of times – especially when it comes to feedback from the art we make.

Part of the problem is that no one trains or teaches us how to accept feedback graciously. The other part of the problem is that no trains or teaches us how to give it mindfully. Humans tend to think in solutions rather than problems and so when someone writes a list of all the ways your art could be better, it can be confusing and confronting because we just don’t know why someone has had that reaction and we bias towards thinking there’s something wrong with what we’ve made.

Categorising feedback helps

One way to make feedback easier to receive is to ask for it in a specific way. After all, if the feedback giver has never been trained to give feedback, it’s likely they’re not going to do it well, or they’re going to structure it in a way that makes sense to them. What we need, as artists, is to seek feedback in a way that makes sense to us.

In art – or, specifically, the moment that the art becomes design within a picture book context, I’ve noticed 3 types of feedback that I tend to receive from publishers. No one has ever categorised their feedback in this way to me, it’s just me finding a pattern in the feedback I’ve received after 20 books. The three types are:

  1. Direction. This is feedback that is really a “must” – you “must” find a way to alter or change this thing because it’s a problem. It’s the feedback that most editors find most confronting to give, but it’s often the most useful. It tends to be structural or critical to the story or scene. Things like, “this character only appears once, are they important?” or “That plane looks like it might be on a downward trajectory ending in a crash – we can’t have that.” Direction isn’t non-negotiable, but it’s the most important type. As feedback givers often think in solutions, not problems, sometimes direction-style feedback needs a conversation to uncover the ‘why’ behind the direction.
  2. Suggestions. This feedback is a type of “should” or “could”. In other words, this colour ‘could’ change, or this colour ‘should’ change. Suggestions are less critical than direction, but they’re an important perspective. It’s a moment of grey. Maybe I never saw it that way, or I still don’t see it that way but someone else does. It takes humility and critical thinking to unpack the why behind the perceived problem or improvement. It’s often just a misunderstanding, and often a small tweak is all that’s needed.
  3. Comments. This feedback is equivalent to ‘thinking aloud.’ There’s no direction, no suggestion, just a spark in someone’s brain about something they see. “The cat looks fluffy?” or “I love the rocket, will it be red?” Comments can be confusing because, as art should, it’s sparks “something” in the viewers’ mind, but it’s unclear whether that something is a problem, or simply a way for the artist to note where things aren’t clear, or what’s sticking out and what’s not. With commentary, it’s always worth clarifying whether it’s either direction or suggestion first. Sometimes, it’s just lovely that someone noticed a detail.

Now, whenever I get feedback, I categorise the response into these 3 buckets. It helps me have a clearer and more productive conversation with the editor or author upfront. Is this a must? Is this is a could or should? Why is this comment important? Knowing this makes things much easier to iterate on. And iteration, in my experience, tends to make things better. After all, everything’s a draft.

Other observations
November 5, 2024

Consistent or resistant

Is my aversion to change about my wanting to be consistent? Or, am I actually being resistant and am I losing something because of that?

October 22, 2024

Critically unacclaimed

What do reviews really tell us about the work? Does it matter who’s reviewing?

October 15, 2024

Proper technique

If I’m learning a new art form, do I focus on technical correctness first or building an emotional connection with the medium?

October 8, 2024

The importance of mess

Physical art materials are messy and inconvenient. But isn’t that the point?

View all