[sn0wstorm]

Well, I thought about collecting suggestions for a Creator's Canon (Working Title).

Why should we need this, you ask?

There are some points in a creating process where it would definetly help to have a Sticky or FAQ here at the board. May it be honesty, netiquette or whatever... Where all designers here could agree on.

Things that IMO are lacking:

Honesty:
It does not help in the process if a customer is not honest in his opinion of the delivered product. Sometimes I have the feeling I could post a pic of a dog taking a crap and some people would still call it an awesome design.

I mean it's kind of you not to kick someone in the gonuds directly, but most of the time constructive criticism are way more helpful then a "w00t".

Sometimes I fear that people just are nice in order to not get Neg-Raped. Another reason why I am not a friend of this anonymous system.

Straightforwardness:

There are several reasons why one would like to change the designer. For example when a design takes too long in the customers opinion. Or because monetary situation changes. Or whatever reasons... Be straightforward please. It won't help anyone if things are not discussed properly. I guess noone would rip another ones head off if discussion about something is straightforward.

The same goes to us designers. There can be always times where we don't have time or the motivation to update a design. Be honest with the customer. He sits on the other side of the line anxious to get his chips. Don't let him down. At least get him a status.




What about all you designers out there. Are there any rules or ideas you would like to see?

Would such a codex help or just hinder the process of a design?

Please let the brain juices flow...






And because I know that a thread is worthless without chips, here ya go:

[jdunford]

Originally Posted by sn0wstorm

I agree completely. W00t!! Nice rack! I wouldn't change a thing (except maybe the chips).

[Hokemon]

Snow: Just curious, has there been an issue with the existing talented designers and customers in these areas?

In my experience, after we negotiated a price, I worked flawlessly with J5 for weeks upon weeks while we tweaked and tweaked and redirected my custom design. I have only the highest praise for John and his talent and patience (especially with me!) and after observing this community for a while would not expect anything less from the other designers here. In my opinion, if I am paying for something, I am going to make sure I get what I want via feedback, dialogue, etc. I guess in the end, I trusted John (and his reputation) and things worked out fine. I would be really disappointed if my experience was the exception and not the rule.

[sn0wstorm]

No issues, no trouble... just some ideas I had in my mind for a long time now. I just wanted to share these, and see if other had something similiar they might want to express...

[jdunford]

In all seriousness, I completely agree with you. I've never really been on either end of the designer/customer relationship (well, I guess I spent some time on the CT table toppers that are still in development, but that was just for fun), but even when browsing other people's work, I find very little constructive criticism and mostly just back-patting. I think it should be the other way around, and I personally try to maintain about a 3:2 (or higher) suggestion to "w00t" ratio. I reserve my "w00ts" for when I'm really wowed by somebody's design, and there are others that I really don't like (to each his own) or that are just "blah" in my opinion, in which case I just hold my peace. I'm definitely not going to lie and say "great chips" when I personally would prefer to play with dice (well, okay, maybe I'm exagerating a bit).

Almost 100% of the the time, the artist and/or customer appreciates it when I suggest something, whether they agree with my suggestion or not, just because it gives them other ideas and perspectives. And I've never been negged for a suggestion ever (and trust me, I've been negged for other reasons; 1 today so far, although I'm not sure why).

[machinelf]

I think this is a great idea. Given that I'm a complete noob around here, I can't really offer anything based on experience, but I'll mull over some general things and try to post things as they come to mind.

For the record: as a designer, I truly appreciate constructive comments (given that they are offered in a polite fashion, of course).

[the3rd]

I like this idea. I haven't been here long, but it seems that many aspects of the creative process has matured, for lack of a better word, lately.

I hand out a lot of w00ts, especially when a member posts a pretty incredible design in their first or third post to the board, but I always try to add something constructive. In a couple instances my suggestions were incorporated and the design looked better.