Many of our clients struggle to understand how to distinguish good design from bad design. They often come from backgrounds that are not design-related and are not sure how to evaluate something visual that is in front of them, even though they intuitively can feel whether something is working or not.
Often, they might feel discouraged by hearing that all design is totally subjective and there are no rules. That leaves them with no ability to evaluate their options and to make a confident choice when a design decision has to be made. They are basically set adrift in a vast ocean without a compass or a map.
However, design is both an art form and a science. The underlying principles of beauty and harmony are mathematically precise. Everyone has probably heard of the Golden Ratio that can be found in old masters’ artworks as well as all across the natural world.
There are also some objective principles that can help us evaluate whether or not something is well designed.
“What we really love is when we make a product or an experience and it works in such a way that you just imagine that there's no other way that it could have worked, and that the solution we've come up with is just inevitable.”
– Allan Dye, Apple
Dieter Rams' 10 principles for good design
Dieter Rams is a German industrial designer who was successful at the Braun company where he served as Chief of Design from 1961. He and his team were responsible for the design of many of the Braun’s seminal domestic electrical products and some innovative furniture of the 20th century.
Rams came up with a set of rules for making a good design:
Good design is innovative
Good design makes a product useful
Good design is aesthetic
Good design helps us to understand a product
Good design is unobtrusive
Good design is honest
Good design is long lasting
Good design is includes every detail
Good design is concerned with the environment
Good design is as little design as possible
You can use this list to compare how closely different design options align with Dieter’s principles to get a better sense of that ineffable je ne sais quoi we call “good design.”