A client told me yesterday that she just didn’t like how a group of designed icons looked. When I probed further, she couldn’t substantively explain why, nor could she tell me what she does like in design. Okay, I get it. Design, like most creative efforts, is subjective. Personal taste counts. But, taste does not trump strategy.

Good design starts with a strategy and a goal. Great designers begin a design around those two factors and then add their creativity.

A designer friend told me about something that she had created and her client felt it looked “simplistic”. Okay, who is the audience? Are the message receivers not sophisticated? Or, will the audience be in a position to see something briefly, like on a billboard near a busy highway, and not have time to look deeply at a complicated design?

The next thing to consider is that while your personal taste counts, yours is not the only one that matters. The best looking logos have gone down in flames, because a focus group did not relate to what the logo needed to say. And, yes, that kind of qualitative research is essential in creating a logo. For other designs that don’t carry the magnitude of weight that a logo does, pulling together an informal group to review the designs and offer constructive comments will help you determine what resonates best.

Finally, when you don’t “like” a design, explain what you do like. Describe it. Better yet, find examples and show them to your designer.

If you want great design, you must understand your audience and the goals you have in conveying messages. Design does not start with good looks; it starts with good strategy.