The Importance of Good Design
Tags: School, Important, Design, Graphic Design, Opinion Piece

It’s funny how the mark of a good design can be considered unnoticeable. Something that requires so much attention, detail, and thought go practically “unseen.” Of course, you don’t literally unsee design, rather you don’t think about it. The average person doesn’t think about how their phone works or something as common as their home. Why doesn’t the roof fall? When did they build this? You don’t think about it because it simply works, it’s non-intrusive. When something doesn’t work, you notice; a broken window, faulty light switches, noisy floor boards. Good design is much the same. When something isn’t designed efficiently it can be intrusive, distracting, and in the worst cases, much like the home, dangerous.

So, what do I mean? Well, look at it like this: since we’ve developed communication we’ve created symbols as short cuts to our ideas, like a rose meaning love. These symbols are quick, easy to read, and recognizable. Visual design relies on the idea that the viewer recognizes their elements in an intended way. When designing something -let’s say a poster- you should think about how people will interpret your piece and why. Not everyone is going to understand the little nuances of a design, it’s impossible, but that’s not to say you shouldn’t implement them. The whole point of design is to get the idea across, first and foremost, and if you’ve done that you’ve succeeded. You can think of this like the foundation of your home.

Now sure, communicating your idea isn’t too hard. You can put huge text on a blank piece of paper and call it a day, it “succeeds” in what it needs to do. However, I would argue succeeding doesn’t necessarily mean good. Just because your words say something, doesn’t mean the viewer understands. Visual design is enhanced when the elements are given context for their use. Despite the average person not knowing what every element means, you can still convey it to them — teach them. Without out this, your viewer can have a hard time reading what you’ve designed, almost unsure of the intent itself. This intrusion could take valuable time away and ultimately confuse the viewer. You can liken this to the walls of your home; it gives purpose to each of the rooms.

Then there’s something that every good design has, but is hard to use properly. If design is to reach everyone intended in a quick manner with minimal effort on the part of the viewer, it’s going to need discipline. Visual design is good when the appropriate amount of polish is taken in. In this case, polish means the nitty gritty work of a designer: kerning the letters, making sure certain pieces are perfectly centered and spaced, and understanding the the important parts of a piece. This is what truly separates the sufficient design from the good. Without this care, you risk losing maximum efficiency and this can be dangerous in some cases. Things like road signs and hazard symbols, have insane amount of polish because of their urgent need. This is the roof.

But what about these elements makes design “important” to everyday life? Why is it important to have good design instead of sufficient ones? Well, if you haven’t noticed, just like a home there’s good ones and bad one. You don’t want to be in a bad home, the same way you don’t want to work for your information. A good home will provide everything you need in a safe and comfortable way. And if it’s really good, you don’t forget it. Although, ironically you don’t know you’ve been in a good home until you’ve been in a bad one, because gave you what you needed without you knowing it.