While most of the previous readings were from the author(s)’ point of view and therefore subjective, ‘Universal Principles of Design’ is a factual, objective guide for beginners in this field. In the former, my opinions and thoughts were, to a certain extent, influenced by the author’s; however, this reading allowed me to decide for myself what was most important and relevant.
For a designer, the most important rules that one must know can be found within ‘Universal Principles of Design’. It explains the basic, essential principles that a successful designer should know and implement in their work—the ones introduced to me in these extracts were Accessibility, Aesthetic Usability Effect, Consistency, Convergence & Mimicry.
Over the course of this reading, I realised that these principles were ones I was already subconsciously familiar with, and allowed me to recollect and appreciate the examples I’d seen in public. For example, "The principle of accessibility asserts that designs should be usable by people of diverse abilities, without special adaptation or modification” (Lidwell et al., 2003). In the UAE, we have signs all over the country at access points and facilities for People of Determination. An initiative to ensure inclusivity, these designs are, in my opinion, the best example of ‘accessibility’.
Apple seems to be doing extremely well in implementing these principles as well—with its aesthetic being a large contributing factor in brand loyalty among consumers. For example, between Apple music and Spotify, the latter is most definitely the better software in terms of efficiency and accuracy in recommendations, etc. but personally, I prefer Apple music simply because it’s interface is more aesthetically pleasing to me.
Apple also implements the principle of consistency across all its devices in terms of controls, interface, etc. that allows the user to intuitively navigate through a different type of device regardless of whether or not they’ve used it before.
Reflecting on real-life examples of the implementation of these principles and their successes inspires me to think twice in the future while planning out projects and my work in general. As a designer, I think these principles must come intuitively and over time, I hope to fine-tune my senses and sensibilities to this extent.
Bibliography
Lidwell, W., Holden, K. & Butler, J., 2003. Universal Principles of Design. Beverly, MA: Rockport Publishers.
Gif- Aiste. [image] Available at: https://dribbble.com/shots/2217051-Demo-Unboxing-rules
Accessed: Nov 29 2020
Comments