Often business owners or marketing managers don't have any idea how to communicate effectively with a designer. For delivering your message and getting a relevant response from a creative person, your language skills must be on top. Besides, you have to know the words and examples to use when speaking to a designer.
As long as the teams of collaborators exist and there is a need to convert business ideas into a clear message for a designer, there is a need of explaining how the communication between a designer and non-designer works. We prepared for you a checklist on how to talk to designers if you want to deliver your message.
Learn Design Basics
It obvious thing that before talking to a professional in any sphere you have to make sure that you understand what you are going to talk about. Before delivering an idea, prepare to communicate with a designer using their language. But the not only language you have to learn, but the object itself.
There are common things to know for a graphic designer, UX/UI designer, and many more, so, you can take any online course to get into details on design for better communication:
Pick the Right Words
Every professional uses the lingo of their profession. With the help of special words, designers all over the world can clearly understand each other. Sometimes even if they don't know the language of the opponent. You, as a non-designer also have to get into a tight circle of the designers to communicate effectively with them.
When learning the language of a designer, you will need a glossary. Try to use FlowMapp Design Glossary with more than 200 design terms. It'll certainly help you with both learning the basics of design and the language of designers.
Use Visuals and References
To be more specific about the styles, elements, and details you like and dislike use references. Pick up some of your favorite design works, create a file or a presentation showing your designer the mood you would like to be in the designs.
Color palettes, styles, and mood boards are also the instruments that will help you show your team what's preferable on the project and what's not. Be specific about your desires. There are some popular sources of inspiration that are used almost by every designer, you can get your references and visual styles from here:
Talk About Deadlines
To be a good designer, one has to cope with deadlines and follow certain rules in the development. Talk to your designer about the milestones of your project: the beginning of creation, editorial revisions, designer presentation. It is important both for the designer and the company you work for to know the roadmap of the design project.
While talking about the logistics of the project, be polite, patient and remember not to push the work. Also, it is important to have time for changes in the project: some clients do it often, some not, so you should know these timeframes.
Never Say "I Don't Like It"
Designers are very precise people, though not always seem like that. Never say to a designer that has just presented for you a creative that you do not like or "re-do it all". Constructive criticism is one of the keys to getting a better design. If you do not like something about the work, go deep into details, show why you find something inappropriate or irrelevant in the project.
Bottom Line
Talking to designers is not an easy task, especially when you are not prepared for it. We've prepared for you an interview with product managers who work with designers. You can use their advice to improve your communication. And finally, here are some more cool tips on how to organize your work with designers:
- Know the time frame of the project
- Prepare a technical task
- Learn how to estimate design
Without learning about design and how to estimate it, it's a pointless task to communicate with a designer properly, so, first – prepare yourself and then go discussing designs!
