How to Survive Critique: A Guide to Giving and Receiving Feedback
Sadly, now that Steve Jobs is gone, there is no single, omnipotent critic capable of unilaterally determining how good or bad a design is. Of course, some people (i.e., design faculty, Pritzker Prize winners) are more informed or knowledgeable than others, but design is a complex endeavor, resistant to simple metrics or measures. Therefore, in design education, instructors rely heavily on a subjective form of review known as “critique.” There are many ways to critique and be critiqued, and learning how to give and receive feedback is an essential skill that extends beyond design education. Here, a few thoughts for students and their critics—and critics and the critiqued at large.
