Critique Isn’t a Personal Attack.
I have been a creative person my entire life. From the second I could hold a crayon; I have been creating. Then, when I turned 3, I was put into dance classes and my life would never be the same. I have been so deeply immersed in the visual arts since my toddler years that everything I do now revolves around it. What I have learned over my 21 years of life is that dance and design have grown intertwining roots within me.
It wasn’t until I entered college in pursuit of a degree in graphic and interactive design with a spot on the dance team that I realized how connected the two creative disciplines were, and how much one helped me excel in the other. Especially when it came to receiving critiques on my work.
Critique is one of the most important processes you can put your work through. Through the critique process, you are given a new perspective on what could be done differently to better convey your message.
Growing up in the competitive dance world, people automatically assumed it was like Dance Moms, where everyone yelled at everyone and us dancers were ripped apart every week during pyramid. But the truth is, there are no moms causing fights and there is no pyramid. And even if there was, realistically, no one would ever be at the top or bottom, because no one is perfect. We all deserve critiques that will help us grow and learn.
Growing up at my dance studio, we started off by having our teachers filter through critiques judges would give after each competition. Picking out the ones they knew would be the most important while skimming over the ones they knew we would think way too hard over. The older we got, the less they filtered through beforehand. By the time I was in high school, I was ready to hear all the judges' comments with no prior knowledge of what they could possibly be about. Would they sometimes sting? Sure. But did I learn to soak in every correction I was given? Absolutely. Growing through this as a child and teenager helped prepare me for the sometimes-brutal critique sessions my designs would enter.
Just as competitive dancers grow up with critique, designers come to know it very well as they continue to produce work. Sure, you don’t want to be the one who has issues with their project, but by receiving feedback, you are only becoming stronger by taking in new information to apply to your work. Even if you aren’t on the receiving end, you learn to take feedback given to your peers and apply it to your work as well.
This biggest lesson to be taken away by anyone in a creative field is that critique isn’t a personal attack on your work or character. The goal is to fine tune your piece while also making you a stronger creative in the end