What are the guidelines for asking for a critique of my work?

Question

I'd like to ask a critique question for my design. How can I do that so that it fits the Stack Exchange format without being too subjective?

Answer 1

If your critique question got placed on hold: Don't panic! We're here to help.

We are a community of professional and aspiring designers, and as such, we sometimes feel we need some feedback on what we have just created. Like all Stack Exchange sites, ours follows a strict Q&A format. This makes it a bit difficult to ask questions that might fall under the "critique" category.

However, we would love to help you, and in order for us to do it, your question will need to fit within a few criteria.

First and foremost, you must have either a specific question about your design or specific guidelines for the critique. A critique question needs to include a specific goal you would like to achieve.

Critique Question Criteria

• You must add one or more images to explain your problem.
• Your question must be phrased in such a way that answers can be objectively voted on by the community. Keep in mind specifically what kind of critique feedback you are looking for.
  • Good Example: "Is this type size too small to be read?"
    Bad Example: "How does this font look?"
  • Good Example: "Is there enough contrast between the blue and the green?"
    Bad Example: "Are the colors okay?"
  • Good Example: "Is there enough white space in the logo so it's easily identifiable?"
    Bad Example: "Can you tell what it is?"
  • Good Example: "Does the piece convey an air of playfulness and excitement?"
    Bad Example: "What impression do you get?"
• Your question should encourage answers which explain their reasoning and back up any subjective statements with experience or recognized authorities.
• While your question should give us an idea of your own style, it should also encourage fair and impartial answers.

Confused? Here are some examples of on-topic critique questions:

• How should ascenders and descenders that share the same space be handled?
• How do I deal with line spacing when a single descender is getting in the way?
• Designing around an awful logo
• Logo design and text placement

What if my question doesn't meet these guidelines?

The first thing you should do is edit your question to fit the above criteria to the best of your ability. Don't worry about making it perfect, if you are not sure how to write it other members of the community will help you.

Keep in mind we try to be a reference site for design enthusiasts. Phrase your question in a way that can potentially help others.

Note that we also have a dedicated chat room for critique which does not impose the above rules.