How to write a great review

The artists at RealWorld Graphics are continuously adding new works to the Gallery. This article offers suggestions on how to offer constructive, useful feedback for them to use in improving their art.

We'll start with comments. Comments are necessary in order to give the artist detailed feedback on what you liked or didn’t like about a set.

What is a good comment?

A good comment should state the following.
1. Whether or not you liked the set.
2. ‘’Why’’ you liked or didn’t like it.
3. If you didn’t like it, a suggestion on how to resolve what you didn’t like.

How about ratings? Ratings are a good way to show ''how much’’ you liked or didn’t like a set. The methods and reasons that people use to rate a set will vary depending on the person, but here are some basic guidelines on ratings.

What should you consider when rating?

1. How much did you like it? If you loved it, it should get a higher rating. If you didn’t like it, it should get a lower rating.
2. Is the set of good quality? Maybe you didn’t like a set, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it should get a low rating. If the artist clearly put a lot of effort into a set and it is of decent quality, it is probably worth rating it higher even if you didn’t appreciate the particular theme or color it was.
3. Is the set complete? When I rate sets, I usually give out higher ratings if the set is a full 17 cursors even if it is lower quality. It works in reverse too. You can have a great set, but I may rate it lower because it is incomplete. How much higher or lower I rate it depends on how many and which cursors are missing.
4. Is the set consistent? If a “flower icon set” has a rocket in it, it isn’t consistent. I would give a lower rating for that.

Why leave feedback?

Leaving feedback encourages artists to produce more and hopefully better work for people to download. When people respond positively to an artist’s set, it makes them happy and encourages them to do even better. ‘’Constructive’’ criticism also encourages improved work as the artists is made aware of what they need to improve on to satisfy people’s wants. Maybe they have good concepts, they just need to illustrate them better.
You can also earn buttons by rating sets and leaving feedback.