Never Tell a Designer “Just Make It Cool”

Never tell a designer to make a freestyle, or to just make it cool. In roughly eight cases out of ten you will be unhappy with what comes back — not because the designer is bad, but because nobody can read your mind about what cool means to you.

Show what made you pick this designer

You chose them because something in their portfolio caught you. Find that piece and point at it. One example you can name does more than a paragraph of adjectives.

Ask for help with the idea

If you do not have a concept, say so and ask. Working the idea out together before anything is drawn is normal practice, and it is far cheaper than discovering the gap halfway through.

Name the details that matter to you

Treat it like describing symptoms to a doctor: everything that is bothering you, in full, without editing yourself down. Say which elements have to be present. A detail you assumed was obvious is exactly the one that will be missing.