How to Survive Design by Committee
Good design is rarely ever the work of one creative mind. On any given project there are clients, strategists, designers, writers and stakeholders, and every one of them has a point of view. The CEO has one opinion, but the marketing team has another. Meanwhile, the marketing head’s recently graduated nephew, who is “good with Canva”, has thoughts on the font. And then, at the eleventh hour, someone who hasn’t attended a single project meeting throws in a detail that means a change of direction. By the fifth round of revisions, no one can recall the original brief.
Everyone brings a different perspective, set of priorities and idea of what good looks like. That's what makes collaboration valuable. The challenge is getting everyone to work towards the same outcome. A lot of that gets decided in initial brainstorm meetings. When everyone agrees whose input counts for what, disagreements can actually make the work better.
But without that agreement, collaboration turns into compromise. When every opinion carries the same weight, feedback becomes a list of personal preferences. Strong, distinctive ideas get watered down to keep everyone happy.
The result isn’t always bad design. Often it’s design that doesn’t really say anything at all. Everyone feels entitled to comment on creative work. Logos, colour palettes, headlines, and layouts are things people interact with every day – so, naturally, everyone feels qualified to weigh in. Those inputs can be useful, but often they just boil down to a matter of taste.
And so you watch a CFO reject a bold colour palette for an inoffensive beige one. The headline loses its teeth after legal has a read. The illustration gets vetoed in favour of a stock photo indicating “people smiling at a laptop” because who could possibly object to that? A series of small, reasonable changes that leads to a cobbled-together, anodyne design… approved by everyone, loved by no one.
But designers and writers are making conscious choices: Palettes and headlines are there for a reason, based either on the brief, the brand’s positioning, or on the purpose of the creative. Feedback that ignores this context can send a project in the wrong direction, even when it's well-intentioned.
That’s why it’s important to establish, right at the start, who needs to be involved in the decision-making and how. On the client's side, this means identifying the key stakeholders, understanding whose input is needed and agreeing on who has the final say. Not everyone needs to approve every decision, and not every opinion needs to result in a change. It also means giving the right people a say at the right stages: The CEO at the big strategy meetings, the marketing team through the details, and so on. Good collaboration isn’t about shutting people out.
How, then, do you tell useful feedback from personal preference? “This headline promises something the product can’t do,” is an example of the former. “Let’s not use green in the palette because it is inauspicious,” is an example of the latter. The first deserves a change; the second deserves a polite no.
Which doesn’t mean that designers and writers are off the hook. A designer should be able to explain why a particular direction works, just as a client should be able to challenge it. (And design teams have their own darlings and peeves too, IYKYK). A client’s feedback can deepen a team’s understanding of the brand, but a designer also needs to articulate why an unfamiliar idea is the right choice.
A shared vision is something we arrive at – it doesn’t always mean everyone is on the same page right off the bat. That understanding comes from knowing what everyone is working towards, why certain decisions are taken, and how their input contributes to the outcome. Sometimes, those disagreements can become intractable: At TWO, we once had to bid goodbye to a client whose founder insisted on force-fitting iconography into the design on the advice of his grandfather – who had no context for the several strategy discussions we’d held before arriving at the identity.
Most projects never come to that stage. We still believe the best creative work comes from bringing different perspectives together without losing sight of the bigger picture. That requires open conversations, clear roles, and enough trust for people to challenge ideas without turning every disagreement into another round of revisions.
As for the stock photo of people smiling at the laptop. It’s right where it belongs… on a competitor’s website.