I always struggle with giving creative feedback. I can only imagine what’s it’s like to be a creative director and have your work (which is inherently personal) continually critiqued in front of you. I guess you learn to grow really thick skin (or plug your ears discretely).
This last week, I gave a cartoon talk to 200 people at Unilever, and it was surreal to flip through my cartoons on a jumbo screen waiting for the audience to get the joke and start laughing. Usually, I send out my cartoons alone and I’m not there when people get them. So, it was a little nerve-wracking to be on a stage hoping (and praying) that people would start laughing (anyone, anyone, Bueller, Bueller). A bit like that old dream of showing up to school without your clothes. Anyway, that’s what I imagine it’s like to be a creative director in a client meeting.
So, I always try to dose my creative feedback to others with plenty of ego stroking. An early manager of mine described it as a "criticism sandwich", which led to this cartoon.