26 Design Quotes for Your Inspiration
“People tell you the world looks a certain way. Parents tell you how to think. Schools tell you how to think. TV. Religion. And then at a certain point, if you’re lucky, you realize you can make up your own mind. Nobody sets the rules but you. You can design your own life.”
– Carrie-Anne Moss
Words are immensely important. They are, after all, one of the main things that separate us from much of the rest of the animal kingdom, and has allowed us to rule this planet we live on, putting us so high up on the food chain, that we are no longer on it.
We define ourselves, other people, and the world around us using words, creating definitions and descriptions, metaphors and allegories, generalizations, and not mention poems and prose, all so that we can archive the human experience; be it at a personal or species-wide level.
Words start and end wars, build and topple governments, begin and break-up relationships. Putting it simply: words inspire. We hear a particularly beautiful sentence, we go and make music; we read a heartbreaking short story, we go paint our favorite scene; and so on. Words are the spark that starts the fire which is creation.
So in today’s article, I thought I would browse the internet for a few design quotes, and share with all you good people the ones I liked the most. I will also be sprinkling this article with interesting designs, so you will also get a bit of eye candy, as well as mind candy.
1. “A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
2. “Good design is making something intelligible and memorable. Great design is making something memorable and meaningful.” – Dieter Rams
3. “Design is the method of putting form and content together. Design, just as art, has multiple definitions; there is no single definition. Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.” – Paul Rand
4. “Graphic design, which evokes the symmetria of Vituvius, the dynamic symmetry of Hambidge, the asymmetry of Mondrian; which is a good gestalt, generated by intuition or by computer, by invention or by a system of coordinates, is not good design if it does not communicate.” – Paul Rand
5. “Sacred spaces can be created in any environment.” – Christy Turlington
6. “It is only after years of preparation that the young artist should touch color – not color used descriptively, that is, but as a means of personal expression.” – Henri Matisse
7. “Every contrivance of man, every tool, every instrument, every utensil, every article designed for use, of each and every kind, evolved from a very simple beginnings.” – Robert Collier
8. “The details are the very source of expression in architecture. But we are caught in a vice between art and the bottom line.” – Arthur Erickson
9. “Design is people.” – Jane Jacobs
10. “Great designers seldom make great advertising men, because they get overcome by the beauty of the picture – and forget that merchandise must be sold.” – James Randolph Adams
11. “Design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service.” – Steve Jobs
12. “Design is a way of life, a point of view. It involves the whole complex of visual communications: talent, creative ability, manual skill, and technical knowledge. Aesthetics and economics, technology and psychology are intrinsically related to the process.” – Paul Rand
13. “Design should not dominate things, should not dominate people. It should help people. That’s its role.” – Dieter Rams
14. “Design must be functional, and functionality must be translated into visual aesthetics without any reliance on gimmicks that have to be explained.” – Ferdinand Porsche
15. “There’s design, and there’s art. Good design is total harmony. There’s no better designer than nature – if you look at a branch or a leaf, it’s perfect. It’s all function. Art is different. It’s about emotion. It’s about suffering and beauty – but mostly suffering!” – Diane von Furstenberg
16. “When I studied graphic design, I learned a valuable lesson: There’s no perfect answer to the puzzle, and creativity is a renewable resource.” – Biz Stone
17. “The clothes that I design and everything I’ve done is about life and how people live and how they want to live and how they dream they’ll live. That’s what I do.” – Ralph Lauren
18. “Good design begins with honesty, asks tough questions, comes from collaboration and from trusting your intuition.” – Freeman Thomas
19. “I realize that having a style would be very beneficial for my practice from a marketing standpoint, but I can’t do it. I believe my responsibilities as an architect are to design the most appropriate building for the place. Each place has a distinct culture and function, which for me requires an appropriate answer.” – Cesar Pelli
20. “Language, philosophy, and science are interwoven into the design of words, which are manipulated to create surprising illusions.” – John Langdon
21. “Design is about point of view, and there should be some sort of woman or lifestyle or attitude in one’s head as a designer.” – Vera Want
22. “Design, in its broadest sense, is the enabler of the digital era – it’s a process that creates order out of chaos, that renders technology usable to business. Design means being good, not just looking good.” – Clement Mok
23. “Leopard is an animal design, and my designs come from nature.” – Roberto Cavalli
24. “Design and style should work toward making you look good and feel good without a lot of effort so you can get on with the things that matter.” – Donna Karan
25. “Design is the courage and brilliance to cover an original and make it different.” – John Hockenberry
26. “After finishing a design you take a step back and a little voice pops in your head and says, “Wow. You should really just quit while you’re ahead.” Don’t ever listen to that voice. Ever.” – Brittany Grabowski
That wraps up my rundown of some of my favorite design quotes. I hope you enjoyed them and found them to be, indeed, inspirational. Be sure to leave me your thoughts in the comment section below.
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