About — It's like an informal desk critique...

ABOUT THEBACKWALL

It's about the process.

Here at Thebackwall, we believe that the most facinating aspect of design is the process. Of course we enjoy a pristine final product as much as the next person, but we also believe that the conversations and process work that lead up to the final state of a project are just as important.

Collaboration.

Thebackwall is our attempt at getting more designers to collaborate on a regular basis. Even if you only use Thebackwall for inspiration, it always helps to know what your contemporaries are working on.

Cross-disciplinary.

Because our community is cross-diciplinary, it allows you to get feedback from designers practicing in areas outside of your chosen branch of study. Sure, your professor and classmates may have great ideas, but sometimes it takes a completely new perspective to take a project to the next level.

Not a portfolio site.

Although you're certainly allowed to display finished work, we urge you to pin up work throughout the design process when you have the most to gain from outside input and new ideas. We understand that it's difficult to ask for input when your project isn't completely finished and at it's most vulnerable, but hey, we're all designers here, we've all been there before.

HOW IT WORKS

The Pin-up process.

It's pretty straightforward — you create a pin-up by uploading images (sketches, photographs, technical drawings, etc), which is then available for other designers to view, critique, mark-up, and comment on. Each project you pin up is allowed up to five images and each user can pin-up a maximum of 5 different projects.

You can get started by quickly registering a username, which allows you to pin-up projects and begin participating in discussions with other designers.

Interactive feedback — mark-ups and quick critiques.

Other than the standard comment system where users can comment directly about projects and images, we also have a mark-up feature and a quick critique system. The mark-up feature allows users to actually sketch over images with their mouse and then upload their mark-ups for you to check out later. The quick critique system allows you to get more quantitative feedback on a project or individual image by allowing users to rate aspects of your project on a scale of 1 to 5. You can activate or deactivate either of these features on a project by project basis whenever you'd like.

WHO IT'S FOR

Creatives.

No matter which area of design you specialize in, Thebackwall provides you with a chance to interact with designers who you may otherwise never have been able to discuss design with.