Critique is a foundational part of design education and professional practice.
In one sense, design critique is simple: it’s just the process of evaluating others’ work and ideas. However, there is definitely an art to giving and receiving a meaningful critique.
History of Critique
Nervous about critique? You’re not alone. The critique process is likely as old as art itself. Creating something new has always lent itself to generating feedback and interest. Charlotte Frost, a professor at the City University of Hong Kong, gives some context of the first mentions of art critique in the Western world:
One of the earliest recorded ‘art critics’ was British artist Jonathan Richardson the Elder. He wrote a number of books in the 1700s which featured the term ‘art criticism’ and which set out a method for assessing the quality of a painting. In fact, he created a scorecard that featured seven criteria anyone could use to judge art. His methods coincided with a rise in art appreciation amongst the middle-classes and contributed new ways of talking about art.