“Products have to be designed in a way that they are comprehensible.”
Whether the design product is a poster, brochure, website or logo – the message should be clear. Good design is effective, and can emphasise a clear message, a clear product and a clear brand attitude.
The basic principles of design are simple, and apply to all design disciplines, whether graphic design, fine art, architecture or even creative writing and fashion design.
The principles of design are tools we adapt to format the element of design, and these tools are what we use in order to communicate fresh, forward-thinking and unique design aesthetics and ideas in new and innovative ways.
In the 1970s, Dieter Rams, German Industrial designer associated with the consumer product company Braun, asked himself an important question: Is my design good?
As good design cannot be measured in obvious forms, here are the ten principles he considered the most important in deciding what good design is and why it is considered this way.
The Ten Principles of ‘Good Design’
Good Design 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.
Good Design 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 while disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it.
Good Design 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.
Good Design 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.
Good Design 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.
Good Design 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
Good Design 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.
Good Design Is Thorough Down to the Last Detail: Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process shows respect towards the consumer.
Good Design Is Environmentally Friendly: Design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment. It conserves resources and minimises physical and visual pollution throughout the lifecycle of the product.
Good Design 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.
A product of good design should be effective, and should promote many of the stated design principles in order to succeed in its aim of selling, promoting or forming communication platforms between brand and consumer. Here at Liquid Bubble, we are dedicated to providing quality design to suit our client, and are proud to be one of the leading creators of graphic design in London. For more information, please do not hesitate to contact our friendly and innovative team on 0208 900 1191 today!
