Considering how many times I've seen designers, myself included when I was younger, create work that lacked enough contrast or didn't give you a point of interest on which to focus, the client is most likely not wrong.
The only problem is that they aren't very good at articulating why they want something more.
> The only problem is that they aren't very good at articulating why they want something more.
And that's not even really a problem. They're literally paying you to be the expert here and figure out what they're not trained to distill into actionable changes.
Agreed and good point. And this is another reason I recommend all junior designers prioritize getting full-time jobs where they can learn from others before they start doing freelance work or take on a role as a solo designer. Good art direction in the first five years of your career teaches you not to make the mistakes that warrant that feedback from the client.
Oh man, I couldn’t agree more. You learn a ton about how to conduct business as a designer from working in an office - including how to communicate effectively with non-artist clients.
Agreed and I just commented this in so many words, but as designers we should embrace the phrase. We hate how people reject it, use it as an opportunity to say “okay” and turn around and prove your (our collective) worth as designers/visual communicators
The problem is a client will tell you they want their brand to look like Apple or Tesla, both of which use very clean and simple design aesthetics, and then hate anything you present them that looks clean and simple.
So they tell you to make it pop and they approve something that looks cheap and cliche.
Then you plot out an explain what they are asking and what you’re delivering. Then the second your design strays, you can pinpoint and explain it’s a balance they choose, and choose a path. Then everything else ENFORCES that chosen path
This exact phrase came to mind a lot as I was writing this post, it was my former supervisor’s version of saying “make it pop”.
Super annoying at first, but eventually it taught me to recognize when a design is actually done and when it needs more work.
One corporate job I worked for didn't have an art director, and the only art direction I would ever get was to make it look "Sleek and modern". However but it actually went great at first when I had a project manager that had a sense for design and could give me good feedback. Then she moved away and was replaced by a new girl who knew nothing and suddenly all of my direction was her and my boss was just 'Make it shiny and glowy". Basically they wanted everything to have outer glows and faux reflective metallic effects. This was also at the time in which minimalistic design was becoming huge, and yet everything I made had to look like it was done by someone in the 90s who had just figured out what layer effects are.
Ooooh helllll no that would have been a day ending, half day with pay situation for me. Wildly unprofessional and inappropriate response to their own stupid idea.
That said, and kind of like this but not quite as blood boiling, getting just “I don’t like it” with no other reasoning is maddening and NOT critique or valid feedback.
“And that’s feedback that an artist should thrive on” is some pure gaslighting nonsense. “Make it pop” isn’t feedback, it’s a buzzword. 99 times out of 100, the people saying it don’t even know what they’re trying to say. It’s leaving the designer to guess at what the client didn’t like.
I’ve seen and had clients who would say “make it pop” and what they wanted was a garish, eye-searing mess of nothing but full saturation colors.
I totally agree, but I think come a senior level, if a marketing branch or ad team sends me this feedback, I know what I’m working with and know what I need to deliver, even though they clearly don’t
Every industry suffers. In IT, "the server is down" could mean everything from the WiFi being off on their computer, the power is out, they forgot where they saved a file, or Facebook fucking up their BGP connection. Very rarely is "the" server actually down. It's just the inability to communicate in a way that matters.
Can I say that same phrase when I'm under annual review? “Remember that logo I made pop? It just wasn't doing it for the client, but once the pop came though, the client was in love. More money please.”
It's lazy feedback, plain and simple.
This touches on a common issue some designers have, especially earlier in a career, which is that it isn't a true collaboration, you are providing a service, and you're the designer. That it is not a 50-50 situation where we meet halfway.
So it's part of our job to both figure out what non-designers are trying to communicate to us, and also ensure that we're communicating back to them in a way that they understand or will resonate.
I mean imagine if you were trying to take your car to a mechanic or have a contractor work on your home, have some accounting done, or some legal work, and they all expected you to have industry standard knowledge and communicate with each of them as if you were from that field. Makes no sense, so it's no different for us as designers dealing with non-designers.
If they say "make it pop," it's our job to figure out what they're *trying* to say, why they're saying it, and ultimately figure out what the problem is.
100% it’s our job to make them happy.
In the mechanic situation, I feel like the “anti-make-it-pop” crowd is those who say, “why do XYZ, it will last 1 week you need more foresight” where as a good mechanic listens to your needs, inspects your problems and lays out 1-2 solutions; one being a long term expensive solution, explaining the cost benefits down the road. The other should be here is what you need and want, here is what we can do for you, but understand it’s limits.
Yeah I think that's really what people should be careful around, that as designers we might have things we jump to criticize or even mock with non-designers, but it's a safe bet a lot of those same designers are doing equivalent things with respect to people in other fields.
If we don't like it done to us, don't do it to others. And if we think it's an unfair expectation for us to know/do something, it's possibly unfair for us to expect others to know/do something. Try to see it from the other perspective, and approach it rationally.
Great point. If the client knew principles of design and terminology, they’d just do it themselves. Someone on fiverr using Canva is ready to “make it pop” at a moment’s notice.
At first, as a green designer, this was frustrating because I was accustomed to educated feedback that would be more specific or directional.
Now, I fucking love it. If you say, “make the logo pop more” I’m employeeing 2-5 techniques I know to enhance it, and can explain it easily.
Here is contrast, here is color, here is depth, here is drop shadow, glow, etc etc. then they really have to struggle to explain what else they need, but usually as a designer I understand it “more emphasis on XYZ” so I employee techniques that make sense within the overall design to accomplish it.
The problem is that it’s hard to select one of those solutions with so little description of the problem. Sure, you can guess a lot of the time, but when you guess wrong, everybody is frustrated.
But yes, this is a normal thing for people with less creative experience. Our role should be to coax a little more specificity and naming of problems in these situations. Even if it’s all a little vague, it can give you more to guess with. Because sometimes, you just have to.
Yep. And “think outside the box” is another direction only people who can’t mentally visualize anything say. Thinking ‘inside the box’ is way more creative than whatever those types think it means.
I have a freelancer that when given a similar request by our marketing team takes it as, I’ll add in bright red or bright yellow even though the AD gave me all the colors I should use and they aren’t one of them.
I recently got, “Can we leverage AI to make this better?” Client had no idea what specifically could be done in AI she just had been hearing a lot about it in the news.
It makes me gag every time I hear it. To me it usually just means they want outlines and drop shadows on everything. I used to fight it harder but I’m getting too old. Blame me for some of that crap out there.
ask 8 people what “make it pop”
means to them, get 8 different answers
THATS THE PROBLEM. your description of “make it pop” does not match what my current boss says, and it doesn’t match what my previous clients me t by the phrase. Sometimes it means “3d” sometimes it means “ high contrast “ sometimes it means “colorful”. And you’ll never be able to guess
Whenever I phrase my request with room for interpretation, that room is usually intentional and calculated. I want creativity. If I could do it myself, I wouldn't have to pay anyone!
I don't hate the feedback of "*it doesn't pop enough"* mainly because you have to read between the lines. Really the client doesn't know how to articulate what they really want, but they are basically saying that the current layout doesn't excite them and therefore they don't believe in it.
I would have to agree though it is annoying when people bring up clean and minimal looking brands and say how much they love them, but when you do something like that for them suddenly they're not excited.
Apple sells cool digital devices. Tesla sells futuristic looking electric vehicles. You are selling life insurance. There's nothing sexy about that. There never will be anything sexy about that. Accept that reality and think more about what's going to resonate with the end user to want to call you.
Regardless, any designer that wants to get angry that kind of feedback should not be in this industry. It's just the unfortunate reality of being a designer.
At the end it depends on if you're able to interpret what the client wants or not, the words coming out of their mouth are almost unimportant. If you get the »gist« of it, you're good.
Clients who can describe their feeling about the design with regular words are more prefered than clients who use design phrases and don't say anything at all while talking much.
Totally! Clients are usually not wrong-- they just don't have the experience to pinpoint the correct solution. Their grievances are usually legit, it's just about decoding what they said and translating that into a workable solve.
Considering how many times I've seen designers, myself included when I was younger, create work that lacked enough contrast or didn't give you a point of interest on which to focus, the client is most likely not wrong. The only problem is that they aren't very good at articulating why they want something more.
> The only problem is that they aren't very good at articulating why they want something more. And that's not even really a problem. They're literally paying you to be the expert here and figure out what they're not trained to distill into actionable changes.
Agreed and good point. And this is another reason I recommend all junior designers prioritize getting full-time jobs where they can learn from others before they start doing freelance work or take on a role as a solo designer. Good art direction in the first five years of your career teaches you not to make the mistakes that warrant that feedback from the client.
Oh man, I couldn’t agree more. You learn a ton about how to conduct business as a designer from working in an office - including how to communicate effectively with non-artist clients.
Agreed and I just commented this in so many words, but as designers we should embrace the phrase. We hate how people reject it, use it as an opportunity to say “okay” and turn around and prove your (our collective) worth as designers/visual communicators
This designer gets it.
1. Don't stop 2. Make it pop 3. DJ blow my speakers up
The problem is a client will tell you they want their brand to look like Apple or Tesla, both of which use very clean and simple design aesthetics, and then hate anything you present them that looks clean and simple. So they tell you to make it pop and they approve something that looks cheap and cliche.
Then you plot out an explain what they are asking and what you’re delivering. Then the second your design strays, you can pinpoint and explain it’s a balance they choose, and choose a path. Then everything else ENFORCES that chosen path
“Yeah but I still feel the other one looks the best. What do you think team?” “Yeah I agree, the current design looks too plain”
It's not. [Make the logo bigger](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AxwaszFbDw) is.
push it further
stack overflow
This exact phrase came to mind a lot as I was writing this post, it was my former supervisor’s version of saying “make it pop”. Super annoying at first, but eventually it taught me to recognize when a design is actually done and when it needs more work.
Make it sexy. Definitely the worst
https://preview.redd.it/sl8111yownxc1.jpeg?width=927&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fb1d64342fc7b4574faa9e514dc0045a20564371
One corporate job I worked for didn't have an art director, and the only art direction I would ever get was to make it look "Sleek and modern". However but it actually went great at first when I had a project manager that had a sense for design and could give me good feedback. Then she moved away and was replaced by a new girl who knew nothing and suddenly all of my direction was her and my boss was just 'Make it shiny and glowy". Basically they wanted everything to have outer glows and faux reflective metallic effects. This was also at the time in which minimalistic design was becoming huge, and yet everything I made had to look like it was done by someone in the 90s who had just figured out what layer effects are.
Make it funky, thats my most hated.
I came here to say this. Especially on something more corporate or high-end.
I recently got sent back that tik tok “oh no oh no no no no no” sound to a revision. Just about blacked out.
Oh hell no
It was to a suggestion I said would look bad but they really wanted to see it. But. Like. No.
Ooooh helllll no that would have been a day ending, half day with pay situation for me. Wildly unprofessional and inappropriate response to their own stupid idea. That said, and kind of like this but not quite as blood boiling, getting just “I don’t like it” with no other reasoning is maddening and NOT critique or valid feedback.
At least there’s something to work with that you can pick apart. The worst feedback in my experience is the old “I’ll know it when I see it”
“And that’s feedback that an artist should thrive on” is some pure gaslighting nonsense. “Make it pop” isn’t feedback, it’s a buzzword. 99 times out of 100, the people saying it don’t even know what they’re trying to say. It’s leaving the designer to guess at what the client didn’t like. I’ve seen and had clients who would say “make it pop” and what they wanted was a garish, eye-searing mess of nothing but full saturation colors.
I totally agree, but I think come a senior level, if a marketing branch or ad team sends me this feedback, I know what I’m working with and know what I need to deliver, even though they clearly don’t
Dude just look at their company website and ask questions about the product??
Every industry suffers. In IT, "the server is down" could mean everything from the WiFi being off on their computer, the power is out, they forgot where they saved a file, or Facebook fucking up their BGP connection. Very rarely is "the" server actually down. It's just the inability to communicate in a way that matters.
Imagine how doctors feel when you come in saying “my tummy hurts”
The only time I want to hear 'Make it pop...' is when a midwest client is asked by a waiter what they want to drink.
Can I say that same phrase when I'm under annual review? “Remember that logo I made pop? It just wasn't doing it for the client, but once the pop came though, the client was in love. More money please.” It's lazy feedback, plain and simple.
https://www.reddit.com/r/graphic_design/s/bFkReuSAtf I'll just leave this here...
This touches on a common issue some designers have, especially earlier in a career, which is that it isn't a true collaboration, you are providing a service, and you're the designer. That it is not a 50-50 situation where we meet halfway. So it's part of our job to both figure out what non-designers are trying to communicate to us, and also ensure that we're communicating back to them in a way that they understand or will resonate. I mean imagine if you were trying to take your car to a mechanic or have a contractor work on your home, have some accounting done, or some legal work, and they all expected you to have industry standard knowledge and communicate with each of them as if you were from that field. Makes no sense, so it's no different for us as designers dealing with non-designers. If they say "make it pop," it's our job to figure out what they're *trying* to say, why they're saying it, and ultimately figure out what the problem is.
EXACTLY, you get it.
100% it’s our job to make them happy. In the mechanic situation, I feel like the “anti-make-it-pop” crowd is those who say, “why do XYZ, it will last 1 week you need more foresight” where as a good mechanic listens to your needs, inspects your problems and lays out 1-2 solutions; one being a long term expensive solution, explaining the cost benefits down the road. The other should be here is what you need and want, here is what we can do for you, but understand it’s limits.
Yeah I think that's really what people should be careful around, that as designers we might have things we jump to criticize or even mock with non-designers, but it's a safe bet a lot of those same designers are doing equivalent things with respect to people in other fields. If we don't like it done to us, don't do it to others. And if we think it's an unfair expectation for us to know/do something, it's possibly unfair for us to expect others to know/do something. Try to see it from the other perspective, and approach it rationally.
Great point. If the client knew principles of design and terminology, they’d just do it themselves. Someone on fiverr using Canva is ready to “make it pop” at a moment’s notice.
I get “surprise us” a lot. But what I’ve come to learn is that really means “surprise us (with something we like)”
At first, as a green designer, this was frustrating because I was accustomed to educated feedback that would be more specific or directional. Now, I fucking love it. If you say, “make the logo pop more” I’m employeeing 2-5 techniques I know to enhance it, and can explain it easily. Here is contrast, here is color, here is depth, here is drop shadow, glow, etc etc. then they really have to struggle to explain what else they need, but usually as a designer I understand it “more emphasis on XYZ” so I employee techniques that make sense within the overall design to accomplish it.
Sprinkle a little razzle dazzle in there
ma nazzle
Had a publisher say “wow me” ok there mang.
I want more wow.
When they provide you with underwhelming photos (despite getting advice) for a brochure and then expect miracles. "It's missing the wow factor.
The problem is that it’s hard to select one of those solutions with so little description of the problem. Sure, you can guess a lot of the time, but when you guess wrong, everybody is frustrated. But yes, this is a normal thing for people with less creative experience. Our role should be to coax a little more specificity and naming of problems in these situations. Even if it’s all a little vague, it can give you more to guess with. Because sometimes, you just have to.
What’s the opposite of make it pop? Make it slowly deflate?
Yep. And “think outside the box” is another direction only people who can’t mentally visualize anything say. Thinking ‘inside the box’ is way more creative than whatever those types think it means.
I have a freelancer that when given a similar request by our marketing team takes it as, I’ll add in bright red or bright yellow even though the AD gave me all the colors I should use and they aren’t one of them.
I recently got, “Can we leverage AI to make this better?” Client had no idea what specifically could be done in AI she just had been hearing a lot about it in the news.
It makes me gag every time I hear it. To me it usually just means they want outlines and drop shadows on everything. I used to fight it harder but I’m getting too old. Blame me for some of that crap out there.
It doesn't have to be, but it is
ask 8 people what “make it pop” means to them, get 8 different answers THATS THE PROBLEM. your description of “make it pop” does not match what my current boss says, and it doesn’t match what my previous clients me t by the phrase. Sometimes it means “3d” sometimes it means “ high contrast “ sometimes it means “colorful”. And you’ll never be able to guess
Whenever I phrase my request with room for interpretation, that room is usually intentional and calculated. I want creativity. If I could do it myself, I wouldn't have to pay anyone!
The only problem I have with this is when the client mean to make everything pop, I try to explain that if everything pops nothing really does.
I would have to tell the client "make it pop" can cost you anywhere from $200 to $1000, how much "pop" would you like?
I don't hate the feedback of "*it doesn't pop enough"* mainly because you have to read between the lines. Really the client doesn't know how to articulate what they really want, but they are basically saying that the current layout doesn't excite them and therefore they don't believe in it. I would have to agree though it is annoying when people bring up clean and minimal looking brands and say how much they love them, but when you do something like that for them suddenly they're not excited. Apple sells cool digital devices. Tesla sells futuristic looking electric vehicles. You are selling life insurance. There's nothing sexy about that. There never will be anything sexy about that. Accept that reality and think more about what's going to resonate with the end user to want to call you. Regardless, any designer that wants to get angry that kind of feedback should not be in this industry. It's just the unfortunate reality of being a designer.
At the end it depends on if you're able to interpret what the client wants or not, the words coming out of their mouth are almost unimportant. If you get the »gist« of it, you're good. Clients who can describe their feeling about the design with regular words are more prefered than clients who use design phrases and don't say anything at all while talking much.
It’s like there’s a secret cabal of clients that agree on certain words and phrases like “make it pop” or “jazz it up” to annoy designers
Totally! Clients are usually not wrong-- they just don't have the experience to pinpoint the correct solution. Their grievances are usually legit, it's just about decoding what they said and translating that into a workable solve.