The Feedback Loop

“I have a few notes…”

No five words send a designer into a deeper existential spiral. At first, I feel things. I sigh (probably too loudly). I stare at my screen, wondering why I even bothered pulling three late nights for this. Then, I remind myself to breathe, listen, and (here comes the mindfulness) try to understand what the hell the client is actually asking.

The truth is, I live in the messy middle. Some days I’m all in on “the client is always right.” Other days, I think, “you clearly don’t understand how design works, and I’m here to fix that.” The real answer is somewhere in between and navigating that gray area. That’s the job.

Let’s be honest: feedback can derail everything.

Have I been given feedback that completely destroyed a project I loved? Uh… yeah. Like, regularly.

Sometimes it’s, “Let’s go in a different direction.” Other times, they disappear for a week, then show up with their own version and ask for my feedback on their Frankenstein mockup.

And you know what? I’ve grown to love it. Not because I enjoy chaos (well, maybe a little), but because tough feedback taught me more than clean approvals ever did. I wanted to fail early in my career — to see what stuck, what didn’t, and how hard I could push before breaking. It’s masochistic, but it worked.

My biggest pet peeve? Communication. Or lack thereof.

Most of the client issues I’ve had can be summed up in one line: Designers are not mind readers.

Some clients give half-baked directions, ghost halfway through a project, and loop in five new people right before delivery. That’s not feedback, that’s sabotage.

But… sometimes it’s on us. Timid designers who don’t ask questions, don’t push back, and don’t set boundaries enable this behavior. If your contract doesn’t define feedback rounds, scope, and timelines, that’s on you.

It takes two. And if one of you sucks at communication, the project suffers.

(Also, quick note to the universe: please stop assigning ten people to one creative decision. I’m begging you. Invest in a decent project manager and save us all.)

Yes, feedback can actually make things better.

Even with all this complaining, I’ll be the first to admit: sometimes feedback improves a design.

When it’s respectful, clear, and comes from someone who knows the context better than I do, I’m all ears. Designers are not flawless gods of visual hierarchy. We’re human. We miss things. A thoughtful edit can bring something to life in a way we didn’t see coming.

It just has to be delivered with clarity and kindness. That’s all I ask.

So… when do you push back?

Great question. Still figuring it out.

But my general rule? I push gently the first two times — receipts, rationale, and calm explanations. If we’re still not aligned, and I’ve given six iterations, I back off. At that point, I’ve made my case, and it’s time to let go. Sometimes the best move is to design what they want and make it so good they forget it wasn’t your first choice.

Hot take: clients do know what they want.

They just can’t say it clearly.

I think most clients know what they’re asking for, they just don’t know how to explain it. They saw something on Pinterest two weeks ago, and now they’re describing it with five adjectives and a shrug.

Designers need to be intuitive, not psychic.

When I disagree with feedback? I lean in.

If I’m furious about a revision, I do the healthy thing and… dive deeper into the work.

Is that the best approach? Probably not. But spite can be wildly productive. If I’m going to redo it, I’ll make it flawless — like a platinum breakup album but for packaging design (Taylor Swift, you got competition).

And if we’re having live conversations? My go-to tactic is simple: say nothing. Just pause. Let the silence do the heavy lifting. Sometimes people walk themselves out of a bad idea if you give them the space.

What do I tell younger designers navigating feedback?

Study people.

Learn what motivates them, what frustrates them, what makes them feel heard. If you’re in-house or solo like me, building those relationships is how you build influence.

Push back when it’s worth it. Let go when it’s not. And remember that being a designer isn’t about being right, it’s about getting it right.

What would the ideal feedback process look like?

Easy: A scheduled meeting, a clear agenda, open discussion, and mutual accountability.

But that’s not how real life works. Sometimes it’s a hallway chat with a half-finished coffee and 60 seconds to ask the one question that’ll stop you from wasting three hours. That, my friends, is the real skill: decoding chaos into clarity.

Final thought: the loudest critic is still in my own head.

Feedback is hard. But the hardest par is the voice that tells me I’ve failed before I even hit send. That self-doubt shows up loudest during feedback rounds.

Sometimes I need to be reminded that I’m not getting fired. I’m not a fraud. I’m just doing a difficult job, with difficult people, and still creating things that hold up under pressure.

And that’s something worth being proud of.

written, out loud.