Article · Brandon Warrell
How to give feedback to a graphic designer (and make every revision round count)
To give useful feedback to a graphic designer, describe the problem you see instead of prescribing the fix, say what is working so it stays, and put your notes on the PDF itself as comments. Then send everything as one combined list for that round, with copy changes kept apart from design changes. A round is one combined list of changes and one revised version back.
How do you give useful feedback to a designer?
Look at the design the way your customer will, and ask whether it does its main job. If the piece is a flyer for an event, can someone find the date, the place and what to do next in a few seconds? Start your notes there, then move to smaller details.
A good note has three parts: where the issue is, what you notice, and why it matters. "On the back panel, the phone number is hard to read from a distance, and people will see this from across a parking lot" gives the designer everything they need. "Make it pop" gives them nothing to act on.
Before the first draft, a clear brief does most of the work. The design brief guide covers what to send up front, including naming one approver who gathers everyone's feedback and sends a single list each round.
Why describe the problem instead of the fix?
Because the fix you picture may not be the best one, and the designer can't see the problem behind it. "Make the date red" might work. But if the real issue is that the date gets lost, there are several ways to solve it: a larger size, a heavier weight, more space around it, a new spot in the layout, or a color change. Each choice affects the rest of the piece.
When you name the problem, the designer can weigh those options and pick the one that fits the whole layout. If you do have a fix in mind, share it as a suggestion and still name the problem: "The date gets lost. Maybe red?"
A few problem-first examples:
- "I read the headline last, but it's the first thing I want people to see."
- "The background is busy, so my eye doesn't know where to land."
- "This feels formal, and our customers are families with kids."
- "The logo is hard to spot on the dark side of the truck."
Why say what is working?
Revisions can drift. If you only list what's wrong, a designer may change parts you already liked while fixing the rest. A short line such as "Keep the headline font and the color palette, those feel right" protects them.
How do you mark up a PDF?
Ask for the draft as a PDF and put your comments directly on it. Notes attached to the exact spot on the page are clearer than a stream of texts or emails that say "the thing near the top."
Adobe Acrobat Reader is free to download and use without a subscription. On desktop, its commenting tools let you add sticky notes, type text onto the page, and highlight, underline or strike through words. Acrobat also has a replace-text comment that crosses out the selected words and attaches the new wording; whether it shows up in your copy of Reader depends on the version and the file. Menu names and where the tools sit vary by version, so look for the comment tools in your copy.
Reader can't edit the PDF's text or images, and that's fine. Your job is to comment, and the designer's job is to make the change in the original file. Once everything is right, the PDF you approve becomes the reference for the final files.
A few habits help:
- Add one comment per issue, placed right where the issue is.
- Use strikethrough and typed text for wording changes so there's no doubt about the new words.
- If something applies everywhere, say so once: "All phone numbers should use dashes."
- Read the whole piece before sending, so a later note doesn't undo an earlier one.
What counts as a revision round?
There is no official definition. Most designers count one round as one combined set of changes sent together, followed by one revised version. If you send ten notes in one list, that's one round. If you send those same ten notes in five separate messages, each sparking its own revision, that can turn into several.
That's why the one-list rule matters. My own terms, from the FAQ: up to 3 rounds of revisions are included with every project. If you want changes beyond that, extra rounds are billed at a small hourly rate, and I'll always tell you before any extra charge.
What does a specific note change in a real revision?
The examples below come from class critiques in my courses at SCF (State College of Florida). They're coursework, not client feedback, but they show how a clear, specific note shapes a revision.
The first is an illustrated drop cap I made for a Typography course in Fall 2025. The project write-up records the critique this way: "The first version set the letter on a starry sky above a line-drawn skyline. Critique noted that the busy background pulled focus from the letter, so the revision drops it and lets the P carry the idea on its own."
Notice that the critique named a problem (the background pulled focus) rather than a fix. The fix that followed was to remove the background entirely, so the letter carries the whole idea: a starry P with a ringed planet in the bowl and a second ring circling the stem.
The second is a car wrap layout for Warrell Homes, the real-estate business my dad ran, made in a Photoshop course at SCF in Spring 2025. No single note was recorded for this one, but the changes show how a draft tightens after critique. I brought a 90% version to critique; the free home-buying guide offer, the guide cover and the website were already on it. The critique draft (white "Lets get moving") became the final: a red "LET'S GET MOVING" headline, a mint driver-side panel and the layout placed on a measured template. I designed the logo and the wrap layout; I'm not a wrap shop or installer. More on that kind of work is on the vehicle wrap design page.
One more: a rhino poster built from words, an SCF Typography class project for the International Rhino Foundation (not commissioned; the logo belongs to the foundation). After critique, the rhino was scaled to 90% so the silhouette has room to breathe, and about 400 more small words close the gaps and sharpen the outline. The word-shape poster walkthrough covers that piece.
Should copy edits and design edits go together?
Send them in the same round, but keep them apart within it. Copy edits are changes to the words: a wrong price, a new phone number, a typo. Design edits are changes to how it looks: size, color, spacing, placement.
Separating them helps in two ways. Copy edits are exact, so they're best as strikethrough and typed text on the PDF, where the new words can't be misread. Design notes are about judgment, so they're best written as problems to solve. Mixing them in one long paragraph makes it easy for a small wording fix to get lost. It also pays to settle the final text before design starts, so most copy edits happen before the first draft rather than after it.
If you have a project in mind, my work shows the kinds of projects I take on, and the FAQ covers revisions, timelines and starting prices.