Effective collaboration: 3 tips for teaming up with artists

Whether you’re a graphic designer, UX/UI designer, or art director, being the designated artist on your team presents its own set of challenges. That goes beyond everyday miscommunications between right-brain creatives and left-brain analysts. Artists often follow their own set of processes that make them unique within a team of collaborators. To better understand how to bridge these differences, we talked with marketing and design professionals across the US. In part three of our series on effective collaboration, we’ll share what we learned, identify pain points, and suggest ways to address them. Here are three tips for teaming with artists.

1. Identify common roadblocks

Once the team sets the vision and agrees on the core message, it’s time to create. The design minds step in and weave all components together into an original and inspired work. To create effectively, artists need tools that help them spend less time sorting through files and more time executing on their skills. Even after they find the right tools, artists still need to negotiate the daily challenges of: • Managing multiple files and versions among designers • Translating unclear or contradictory feedback • Sharing large files Here’s how you and your team can clear those roadblocks when you’re working with artists.

2. Choose an organized file storage system

Switching to a centralized hub for all files enables the artist to access the latest version.

3. Provide streamlined feedback

Every artist loves clear feedback. Dropbox lets team members leave comments directly on design files so an artist knows exactly what changes need to be made.

Recommendations for artists

1. Label all design files with the version, date, and a description so when other artists jump in to collaborate, they can avoid confusion and redundant work
2. Ask for clarity on any vague or confusing elements before you start the project

Recommendations for their teammates

1. Provide specific insights during the planning stages of a campaign, like examples of work that capture the look, feel, and emotion you’re aiming to inspire in your audience
2. Be mindful of giving artists the space they need to get in their zone
3. Provide unified feedback rather than multiple piecemeal rounds that disrupt their flow

For more tips on facilitating teamwork and collaborating on campaigns, download our free eBook, Team up for marketing success.