Let's Talk Design!

Following the rules of GOOD DESIGN my little GDM's is a GOOD THING!

You think art is about "BREAKING THE RULES!". But at the root of any fine work of art, is good design.

I want to tell all my little GDMonsters that no matter which way you go; fine artist, crafts person, graphic design, interior designer, architect or engineer, you need to understand and be able to create a good design.

Now in each of these fields, the greater your understanding of the principals of design, the greater the impact of your work. And you want your work to have impact, right!

You can draw. You LOVE to draw, but can you design?

There are a few projects that I have worked on in my life, that I feel are truly inspired and worthy of being branded, "Good Design". Sad but True.

Because Good design is tough, but when it is right, it seems simple and natural.

So let's focus on one thing: Keeping it SIMPLE.

It is normal for a artist who is just learning to create, to experiment with overloading a design with lots of florid details. And sometimes that works with art. But when you are designing a product for sale, you are trying to communicate something.

You are trying to communicate the essence of the product. Whether it be a CD, a Book, A Tool, a Building, or a piece of Furniture or Clothing.

So you have about 2 - 3 seconds to get someone's attention and communicate this "essence", to get their interest. So florid, overwrought and cluttered designs (typically) will not work.

You need to be crisp, clean and simple. You want to be visually inviting. Be OPEN. Invite the eye in.

My goal was to omit everything superfluous 
so that the essential is shown 

to the best possible advantage.

Dieter Rams - architect, engineer, industrial designer. 

One of the most influential designers of the 20th century

Vitsœ’s designer, Dieter Rams.
Photograph by Abisag Tüllmann

Dieter Rams 10 Principals of Good design* 
(from Wikipedia)

*Good design:^[1]

• Is innovative - The possibilities for innovation are not, by any means, exhausted. Technological development is always offering new opportunities for innovative design. But innovative design always develops in tandem with innovative technology, and can never be an end in itself.

• Makes a product useful - A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic. Good design emphasizes the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it.

• Is aesthetic - The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products are used every day and have an effect on people and their well-being. Only well-executed objects can be beautiful.

• Makes a product understandable - It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product clearly express its function by making use of the user's intuition. At best, it is self-explanatory.

• Is unobtrusive - Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should therefore be both neutral and restrained, to leave room for the user's self-expression.

• Is honest - It does not make a product more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept.

• Is long-lasting - It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Unlike fashionable design, it lasts many years – even in today's throwaway society.

• Is thorough down to the last detail - Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the consumer.

• Is environmentally friendly - Design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment. It conserves resources and minimizes physical and visual pollution throughout the life-cycle of the product.

• Is as little design as possible - Less, but better – because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials. Back to purity, back to simplicity

I want you to think about these principals next time you have an art project at school. Don't let them overwhelm you. Consider at least a few of them the next time you want to create something with a "purpose".

In the spirt of Dieter Rams 10 Principals of good design, here is a wee project for my GDM's.

Design a chair using these principals. Draw it in pencil, pen, as a sketch, just start thinking about a different type of chair.

But KEEP IT SIMPLE.

Email them to me: Belkwinith@gmail.com and I will put them up on this blog for review!