ii. Thoughts... / 01. The Art of Design
If art is peoples way of understanding the world, then design is the art of understanding people. Designers are information architects, translators of the complex, taste makers and storytellers. They have an instinctual sense for finding and refining the essence of an idea. At least it often feels like an instinct, but it’s actually a result of practicing what we were trained to do — that’s why design companies used to be called design practices. It provides a method for innovating and iterating, finding true meaning and making sense of the world.
Design isn’t about making things beautiful (although there’s nothing wrong with that!) — some of the greatest examples of design are as they say ‘invisible’, but would be blazingly obvious if they did not exist. Great design is a direct result of often hundreds or thousands of seemingly small decisions that combined make the solution seem simple, obvious even. But the truth is that it’s hard to design systems that are natural, intuitive and seamless. In his ‘Lettres Provinciales’, the French philosopher Blaise Pascal illustrated this perfectly when he wrote: “I’d have written a shorter letter, but I did not have time.”
Overcomplicating an idea is easy — refining it down to its essence is the real challenge.
What you consciously choose to leave out of a design can be just as important as what you include. This could be considered creative editing, in the same way that a director directs a film or a magician directs your attention away from a slight of hand to make the impossible possible. Think of the way a comedian tells a joke — the humour lives not just in the words, but in the way they’re delivered.
“Different strokes for different folks.” People are different, thank god! — and that’s why each project is also unique. There is no template or ‘one size fits all’ in design, but that’s what makes finding the right solution so meaningful and effective. Nothing would ever stand out if everything looked the same.
‘Less is more’ as they saying goes, but sometimes more is more — it just depends on the context of what you’re trying to communicate and to whom. Understanding this helps you find out how to best communicate it.
We live in exciting times. It can be hard to keep up with new technology and trends — but trends are, well, just that: trends. They come and go. And technology? It’s a tool. Just like pencil and paper — a means to an end, not the end itself. The trick, or the art of design is knowing when to use the right tool for the right job at the right time.