I’ve been reading Kyle Steed’s article called I’m the worst designer over and over again today. The article questions how and why designers value their work and how easily they compare themselves to others.

This lends its self quite well to us young freelancers. We see the great designers out there who are living the dream, creating beautiful work, and being worshiped by the whole internet.

We see their work plastered all over the walls of the Design Inspiration Institution, all those CSS galleries and inspiration sites. The same sites that their last piece was featured on and the same sites that only accept a certain type of design.

It’s always good to see what else is out there and to see what is happening in your field but sometimes you don’t need a website telling you what is good design.

Even for those designers who you recognize as gods among men yourself, you have to be your own designer.

Design is a competitive field and we are taught to look at  others in order to judge ourselves. It’s important to recognize when you are doing this as well as have times where you can say I’m happy with what I’ve designed and that’s good enough for me.

Kyle struck a chord when he said “Someone once told be that the best way to get is to give.” He couldn’t be more right. Giving a little bit of your time to help will likely leave you with something more.

I’d like to take this and apply it to actually helping fellow young designers improve and be better.

I think the only way to really help a young freelancer or fellow designer with his or her work is to offer them feedback. Create a culture of support and critique rather than one that blindly holds up the stars.

I’ve compiled a few sites that do just that.

GetBackboard.com

A great site and the first one of its kind that I found, Backboard lets you get feedback on your project easily and securely. Only invite who you want to to view and comment on your uploaded work. Includes tools for marking up and commenting on sites. With things like versioning and comment archiving, it’s a really useful tool for tracking the development of a design and constantly improving it.

I have an account on the site so if you want me to invite you to critique my work that is there then leave your email in the comments below. To invite me to a Backboard you have created (to have me comment and critique your work)  use the email address bryan.j.connor [at] gmail [dot] com.

Redmarkit.com

Redmarkit is another visual collaboration tool like Backboard where you can upload an design and have clients or fellow designers, whoever you invite, comment on your work to try to improve it. It has some nice features like comments that point to specific parts of a design for more targeted feedback and easy zoom control.

It’s waiting-list-only at this point but I have an invite code for you so you can get an account now. The code is 2GJSTG and you can use it to get an account, upload a design and then invite me to comment on it. Use the same email address ( bryan.j.connor [at] gmail [dot] com ).

PleaseCritiqueMe.com

Please Critique Me is a website and blog that gives web and graphic design critiques for designer by designers. The critics are from some very well respected designers and mavens of the web. Their critiques are thorough and fair and you’ll be sure to get real feedback on your site from a professional. It is all displayed publicly on their blog so it’s not for those of soft skin. I’ve been waiting for a service like this and if you can handle the eyes of some web design greats you’ll get a fantastic critique.

Edit: A New option has been brought to my attention by Matt Simo. Thanks Matt!

Adobe Connectnow

Not exactly built for a critique and feedback tool, Adobe Connectnow has features well suited for general collaborative work- chief among them being screen sharing. It does have features like image uploading, whiteboard and live chat that could lend themselves well to converting Connectnow into a design critique machine. There’s not much of a community around this project and you’ll have to invite people yourself to and work you’d like them to critique. The main screen sharing feature could also be handy for viewing and critiquing designs in process with live fixes and changes.  This is also a handy tool for interacting with clients.

Flickr

Although not a site specifically designed for feedback and critique, flickr has a strong community of people who leave sincere comments about the designs posted on the site. This is especially true when you are an active commenter on the site and when you join a group that has to do with your design and add things to the group pool. Flickr can be a great tool for getting your work reviewed and for networking with other like-minded freelancers and designers. My profiles is http://www.flickr.com/people/bconnor/ if you want to add me as a contact.

Deviantart

It’s a strange choice, I know. Seemingly filled with angsty pre-teens with a pension for art, Deviantart can actually be a source of good comments and valid critique at times. There is a design community on Deviantart that gives honest critique for design work. You just have to find them behind all the Furry art.

Facebook

Facebook is another one you might not think of but think of how many people use it and how easy it is to start a group and upload an image. Facebook groups are created all the time for review of various products and designs.  Make one for your next project and invite your design friendly peers to comment. Friend me and I will comment on a design project on Facebook too ( http://tinyurl.com/o7t33a ).

Use these tools to upload you work, get real comments on it, and be proud of it. Stop trying to compare yourself to the people who you want to be. Make your own way in the design world and continue to improve your design. It’s all you can do.

Do you find you compare yourself to other designers and end up feeling worse instead of inspired? Do you troll the “inspiration” sites for that spark of creativity only to feel frustrated? What do you think about Kyle Steed’s article?

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