Thoughts on design

Image: Sameer Pawar

A camel is a horse designed by committee.
—Alec Issigonis

Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.
—Steve Jobs

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-Exupéry

Good design is good business.
—Thomas J Watson

Recognising the need is the primary condition for design.
—Charles Eames

We design our world, while our world acts back on us and designs us.
—Anne-Marie Willis

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
—Douglas Adams

Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.
—Paul Rand

Content precedes design. Design in the absence of content is not design, it’s decoration.
—Jeffrey Zeldman

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.
—Henry Ford

Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible.
—MC Escher

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
—Albert Einstein

A user interface is like a joke. If you have to explain it, it’s not that good.
—Martin LeBlanc

Design isn’t crafting a beautiful, textured button with breathtaking animation. It’s figuring out if there’s a way to get rid of the button altogether.
—Edward Tufte

“Good design is obvious. Great design is transparent.”
—Joe Sparano

“Any product that needs a manual to work is broken.”
—Elon Musk