How to talk to a graphic designer about figures or illustrations

I love working with graphic designers.

First off, they have a talent I completely lack. You describe what you want, then something beautiful comes out. That feels like magic to me.

Second, they’re problem solvers. I solve communication problems with text. They solve them with graphics. The process is similar and the goals are similar, so I always feel like a collaboration with a talented designer is rewarding. We understand each other.

Third, they’re really creative. On viewing their work, I often find myself thinking, “What a clever and innovative way to communicate.” I always respect creative workers whose work solves the needed problem.

Fourth, they’re usually nice. Obviously, I’m generalizing. But the designers I’ve worked with tended to be introverts without big egos (that is, nothing like me). They listen carefully and respond in as helpful a way as they can.

How to talk to a graphic designer and get great results

Your results working with a designer to create figures or illustrations will vary based not only on the designer’s talent, but on how you work with them. So here are some tips to get the best results.

• Talk about needs, not graphical elements. Don’t tell a designer what font to use, what should go in the lower-right corner, or how much you love red. Instead, talk about the goals of the graphic. For example, “This chart has make it clear how much income inequality has increased since 1970.” Or “This chart has to clarify and simply the six steps in the process I’m describing, in a way that somebody can understand at glance.”
• Be very clear about uses. For example, a business book graphic typically has to do its job in black-and-white with limited grey scales on a 6-inch by 9-inch page, as well as in color in an ebook, in a PowerPoint slide in a speech, and perhaps in a piece of marketing collateral. If the designer knows about all of those uses, they can create a design with variations that will work in all of those formats.
• Context is essential. For the sake of argument, suppose you are asking a designer to design a bar chart showing consumer attitudes based on results from a survey. Is this one of 16 similar bar charts in the book? Is it one of four charts in succession on a pair of pages? Is a modified version of the same chart going to appear later in the book? A smart designer who is aware of the context of the illustration will create a design system that will apply to all these related elements.
• Crude drawings are a fine starting point. When attempting to communicate how you want something to look, I often start with a graph created in Excel or a conceptual graphic from PowerPoint. I’ve also worked with authors who did crude pen-and-ink drawings. These are (almost intentionally) ugly. The point is not to show the designer how it should look, but to provide them with the source material, including the actual numbers in the case of a graph or chart. Accompany these drawings with a meeting or email describing what you want the graphic to emphasize or communicate.
• Use emotional language. It’s fine to talk about how you would like the viewer of the graphic to feel about it. For example, “This is a clean graphic emphasizing the data and free of excessive ornamentation.” Or “This diagram is intended to make people feel confident about the steps they need to follow.”
• Provide feedback on the effectiveness of draft graphics. Examples of helpful feedback: “The title is too prominent, it detracts from the content” or “Whatever you are trying to communicate with the inconsistent font sizes, it’s not coming across clearly.” These work better than “Move the box at the top to the far left.” Because as any designer will tell you, once you make any sort of change, it often requires other changes elsewhere in the graphic or in other graphics.
• Avoid the word “just.” As in “Just make it simple” or “Just make the title bigger.” Such language trivializes the skill of the designer. There’s a reason you’re not doing it yourself.

My experience is that these principles not only generate the best possible graphics, but also leave you with a good relationship with the designer. And that’s a good idea to prepare you both for the next time you work with them.