I am not a designer. In fact, I think I can safely say the last thing I designed was a snowball-maker out of two serving spoons and a twisty tie (I did not win that battle). However, I do appreciate good design, whether it be architectural, spatial, product or what have you. Take the Aquent headquarters office building, for example. The approach was something akin to "Reconstruction Chic," so aesthetically it's more exposed and choppy than clean and even. But functionally, it's open and expansive, with high ceilings and no doors and plenty of room to work with. I mean, it didn't make this list of inspiring workplaces or anything, but I think it could have.
As borderline OCD about the cleanliness of my workspace, I revel in the large desks, open shelves, and plethora of available cork board. There isn't much on my desk, but what is there matters to me - both functionally and aesthetically. I need something to hold my pens, for example, but it can't just be anything. Instead of a dirty coffee mug, I opted for an Aquent champagne glass.
The reason I bring this up is not because I think any of you particularly care about my desk layout, but rather because I came across this article about the 10 Commandments of good design written by Dieter Rams, legendary designer and Head of design at Braun from 1961 to 1995.
Written about product design, Rams concludes that good design must be 10 things: innovative, useful, aesthetic, understood, unobtrusive, honest, durable, thorough, earth-friendly, and simple. I could not agree more, and can't help but think that these standards apply to all design, not just product. If when designing a website, for example, you can honestly say it satisfies this rule of thumb, I think you've got yourself a bona fide award-winner. Same holds true, in my opinion, of your next marketing campaign, office remodeling, or cocktail party invite. Come to think of it, I think my snowball-maker quickly trailed off after innovative and useful...
But I'm curious to hear from you designers out there. Are there additional "Design Commandments" you think didn't make the list?
Image Courtesy of House of Sims.
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