1.
Make it like a sunflower.
Steve Jobs
Create it like a daisy.
2.
Leave this world a little better than you found it.
Robert Baden-Powell
Depart from this realm in an improved state than when you arrived.
3.
Form follows function - that has been misunderstood. Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union.
Frank Lloyd Wright
'Appearance should be fused with purpose, united in a holy matrimony.'
4.
Day by day, case by case, the Supreme Court is busy designing a Constitution for a country I do not recognize.
Antonin Scalia
'Bit by bit, instance by instance, the Supreme Court is diligently crafting a Constitution for an unfamiliar nation.'
5.
Helvetica is the jeans, and Univers the dinner jacket. Helvetica is here to stay.
Adrian Frutiger
'Helvetica is the standard, and Univers the formal attire. Helvetica is timeless.'
6.
To create architecture is to put in order. Put what in order? Function and objects.
Le Corbusier
Constructing architecture is to arrange. Arrange what? Activities and items.
7.
It took me a few seconds to draw it, but it took me 34 years to learn how to draw it in a few seconds.
Paula Scher
'It was a swift action to create it, but lessons over the years enabled me to do so in an instant.'
8.
Remind yourself. Nobody built like you, you design yourself.
Jay-Z
Reaffirm to yourself. Nobody is crafted like you, you construct your own identity.
9.
If you remember the shape of your spoon at lunch, it has to be the wrong shape. The spoon and the letter are tools; one to take food from the bowl, the other to take information off the page... When it is a good design, the reader has to feel comfortable because the letter is both banal and beautiful.
Adrian Frutiger
10.
You can use an eraser on the drafting table or a sledge hammer on the construction site.
Frank Lloyd Wright
You can use an eraser on the drafting table or a mallet on the construction site.
11.
Your best work is your expression of yourself. Now, you may not be the greatest at it, but when you do it, you're the only expert.
Frank Gehry
12.
Good design is a matter of discipline. It starts by looking at the problem and collecting all the available information about it. If you understand the problem, you have the solution. It’s really more about logic than imagination.
Massimo Vignelli
13.
You cannot understand good design if you do not understand people; design is made for people.
Dieter Rams
'Comprehending humanity is essential to recognising great design; design exists for people's benefit.'
14.
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.
Dieter Rams
15.
As a woman, I'm expected to want everything to be nice and to be nice myself. A very English thing. I don't design nice buildings - I don't like them. I like architecture to have some raw, vital, earthy quality.
Zaha Hadid
16.
Be culturally literate, because if you don't have any understanding of the world you live in and the culture you live in, you're not going to express anything to anybody else.
Paula Scher
Be worldly informed, as without knowledge of one's world and culture, communication may be limited.
17.
There is no design without discipline. There is no discipline without intelligence.
Massimo Vignelli
'No blueprint can be constructed without dedication. No dedication is complete without wisdom.'
18.
Digital design is like painting, except the paint never dries.
Neville Brody
'Digital design is like an ever-evolving canvas, forever malleable with no limits.'
19.
Design is more than just a few tricks to the eye. It's a few tricks to the brain.
Neville Brody
Design is more than just visual deception; it's intellectual manipulation.
20.
Graphic design will save the world right after rock and roll does.
David Carson
Visual communication will rescue the planet soon after music does.
21.
The goal of design is to raise the expectation of what design can be
Paula Scher
The aim of design is to enhance the potential of what design can become.
22.
No design is possible until the materials with which you design are completely understood
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
No blueprint can be created until the components you are working with are fully comprehended.
23.
Feminine traits are called weaknesses. People joke about them; fools ridicule them; but reasonable persons see very well that those traits are just the tools for the management of men, and for the use of men for female designs.
Immanuel Kant
24.
Good design is making something intelligible and memorable. Great design is making something memorable and Meaningful.
Dieter Rams
Excellent design is creating something understandable and unforgettable. Substantial and impactful.
25.
A brilliant design will always benefit from the input of others.
Zaha Hadid
A masterful creation will always be enriched by the contributions of others.
26.
I've always thought that design can have equal importance to the idea of internal architecture. Professionally, things can be very dogmatic - you do the architecture, someone else does the interiors, someone else does the furniture, the fabric, etc. But I think design is all-encompassing.
Zaha Hadid
27.
White space is to be regarded as an active element, not a passive background.
Jan Tschichold
'White space should be considered an essential component, not merely a decorative backdrop.'
28.
Styles come and go. Good design is a language, not a style.
Massimo Vignelli
Fashions fluctuate. Excellent design is a form of expression, not a mode.
29.
Good design is innovative
2. Good design makes a product useful
3. Good design is aesthetic
4. Good design makes a product understandable
5. Good design is unobtrusive
6. Good design is honest
7. Good design is long-lasting
8. Good design is thorough, down to the last detail
9. Good design is environmentally friendly
10. Good design is as little design as possible
Dieter Rams
30.
Our guiding principle was that design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life, necessary for everyone in a civilized society.
Walter Gropius
Our central conviction was that design is not simply a cerebral or physical element, but an essential part of everyday life, necessary in any civilized community.
31.
What (Stephen) Hawking says in his book The Grand Design is the universe exists because it needed to exist, and because it needed to exist, it therefore created itself. His conclusion merely restates his premise, which means his argument is circular. Nonsense is nonsense, even when spoken by famous scientists.
John Lennox
32.
If you do it right, it will last forever.
Massimo Vignelli
If done correctly, it will remain timeless.
33.
We should always look upon ourselves as God's servants, placed in God's world, to do his work; and accordingly labour faithfully for him; not with a design to grow rich and great, but to glorify God, and do all the good we possibly can.
David Brainerd
34.
I did not direct my life. I didn't design it. I never made decisions. Things always came up and made them for me. That's what life is.
B. F. Skinner
I did not steer my life. I didn't plan it. I never made choices. Circumstances always arose and determined them for me. That's what living is.
35.
The work needs to get out of your head and on to the table, and it needs to be done from the heart.
Paula Scher
The task requires to be manifested physically and crafted with sincere effort.
36.
You can do a good ad without good typography, but you can't do a great ad without good typography.
Herb Lubalin
You can produce an acceptable ad without quality typography, but you cannot achieve excellence without it.
37.
If you have no intuitive sense of design, then call yourself an "information architect" and only use Helvetica.
David Carson
If you lack an instinctive grasp of design, then dub yourself a "data designer" and only employ Helvetica.
38.
Design must be functional and functionality must be translated into visual aesthetics, without any reliance on gimmicks that have to be explained.
Ferdinand Porsche
Design should be practical and practicality should be expressed through visual attractiveness, without having to resort to tricks that demand elaboration.
39.
The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.
Friedrich August von Hayek
The enigmatic mission of economics is to show people how limited their knowledge is regarding what they believe they can create.
40.
If you can design one thing, you can design everything.
Massimo Vignelli
'An aptitude for designing one object demonstrates an aptitude for designing any object.'
41.
I see graphic design as the organization of information that is semantically correct, syntactically consistent and pragmatically understandable.
Massimo Vignelli
I view graphic design as the arrangement of data that is semantically accurate, syntactically consistent and practically intelligible.
42.
One of the most significant design principles is to omit the unimportant in order to emphasize the important.
Dieter Rams
De-emphasize the trivial in favor of the essential.
43.
Interesting things happen when the creative impulse is cultivated with curiosity, freedom and intensity.
Saul Bass
Enlightening events occur when the imaginative drive is nurtured with inquisitiveness, autonomy and fervor.
44.
Perfect typography is certainly the most elusive of all arts. Sculpture in stone alone comes near it in obstinacy.
Jan Tschichold
'Attaining exquisite typesetting is undoubtedly the most arduous of all creative endeavours. Carving in stone alone rivals it in rigidity.'
45.
You do design because you feel it inside; you have a moral issue to spread quality in our environment.
Massimo Vignelli
You create art because you have an inner drive; you have a passionate commitment to bring excellence into our surroundings.
46.
Architecture is the reaching out for the truth.
Louis Kahn
Formulating a quest for authenticity.
47.
Asymmetry is the rhythmic expression of funtional design. In addition to being more logical, asymmetry has the advantage that its complete appearance is far more optically effective than symmetry.
Jan Tschichold
Inequity is the melodious articulation of utilitarian blueprint. Aside from being more coherent, inequity has the benefit that its whole look is much more aesthetically pleasing than symmetry.
48.
Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced.
Leo Tolstoy
Art is not an artisanal pursuit, it is the conveyance of emotions the creator has encountered.
49.
My idea is to bring happiness, respect, vision, poetry, surrealism and magic [to design].
Philippe Starck
My plan is to inject joy, esteem, acuity, verse, fantasy and enchantment [into design].
50.
...we take comfort in the symmetries we find in life because they suggest a design where there is none.
Nicole Krauss
We find solace in the patterns that manifest in life since it implies a structured plan where none exists.