Design has rules
And there’s value in sticking to them.
What would you consider the most perfect design ever? When somebody posed this question to Raymond Loewy, the father of industrial design, his answer was, surprisingly, the egg. The form of the egg is streamlined and functional. It goes through the chicken with minimum friction. Imagine if it was a cube.
Loewy had three rules when it came to design:
- A good design is a design that remains relevant. It stays classic, like a Greek statue. You will never get tired of it.
- The design should be humble and not jump at you. Most important, it must blend in with the surroundings.
- When you look at a design, it must shout simplicity. It would help if you got that “why didn’t I think of that” moment.
The fundamental questions that a designer of products and marketing strategies are “who’s it for?” and “what’s it for?”
Still, we get millions of bad designs. Nobody wins when the designers get the who’s and what’s wrong. And not following Loewy’s rules. It’s a waste of time and money.
Bottom line: It is not easy to resist the temptation to be bland or to become bold. The result will be a different-shaped egg. Ultimately, a good design is getting people to do what you want without destroying the world around you.
