Good design is in relation to the problem at hand–not obscure, trendy, or stylish

“Good design at least part of the time, includes the criteria of being direct in relation to the problem at hand–not obscure, trendy, or stylish. A new language, visual or verbal, must be couched in a language that is already understood.” – Ivan Chermayeff

Ivan’s quote appears in the book Graphic Design in America: A Visual Language History by Mildred Friedman.

1. Good design achieves integrity in balanced relation to its environment
2. Design is not rocket science. It’s social science.
3. Good design is about effective communication, not decoration at the expense of legibility
4. The worst misstep one can make in design is to solve the wrong problem
5. The alternative to good design is bad design, not no design at all