The standard
How to critique
Most design feedback online fails in one of two directions: it is flattery, or it is a stranger performing taste at someone. Neither helps the file. These are the seven rules this site runs on, and they are enforced by moderators, not by vibes.
- 01
Answer the question that was asked
Every post carries one specific question. Start there. If you want to raise something else, say so explicitly and put it after the answer — do not quietly redirect someone's thread onto the thing you find more interesting.
- 02
Read the stage before you open your mouth
A sketch is not asking about kerning. A near-final file is not asking whether the concept is right. Critiquing the wrong layer wastes everyone's time and reads as showing off.
- 03
Be specific enough to act on
“The spacing feels off” is not feedback. “The gap between the mark and the wordmark is tighter than the internal counters, so the lockup reads as one heavy blob at small sizes” is. Name the thing, name where, name why.
- 04
Separate taste from craft
You are allowed to dislike something that is executed well. Say which one you are talking about. A designer can fix a craft problem; they cannot fix your preference, and pretending the two are the same is how critique turns into noise.
- 05
Say what you would do instead
Not a redesign — a direction. “I would try setting it a weight lighter and see if the balance holds” gives someone somewhere to go. Diagnosis without a suggested next move is only half the job.
- 06
Do not soften it into uselessness
You do not need to open with a compliment. You do need to be talking about the work rather than the person. Blunt is fine. Contemptuous is not, and is the one thing that gets an account suspended here.
- 07
Mark what actually helped
If you posted the work, go back and mark the critique that moved it. It is the only reputation signal on the site, it is the thing mentors are judged on, and it costs you one click.
The stages, and what they mean
- Sketch
- Rough. Direction only — do not critique craft.
- Work in progress
- Mid-flight. Structure and craft are both fair game.
- Near final
- Close to shipping. Detail-level critique welcome.
What gets removed
- Personal attacks, or critique aimed at the designer rather than the design.
- Self-promotion dressed as feedback, and links that go nowhere useful.
- Work that is not yours, posted as if it were.
- Anything that would make this an unpleasant room to be a beginner in.
Removal is reversible and moderators are logged. A suspension is not a secret: you are told, and you are told why.
If you mentor here
A directory listing is free and carries a real link to your site. It stays live while you keep critiquing — 30 quiet days earns a warning, 45 takes the listing down. That is the whole arrangement, and it is applied by a scheduled job rather than by anyone's judgement.
Apply to mentor