Inspired by Dieter Rams 10 principles of good design, I decided to create my own rules for the creative studio. These rules help us enhance our design process and produce thoughtful work. It is a working/living document that will change as we grow creatively.
1. Curious thoughts must always be identified, investigated and validated. – Example: If you are in a restaurant and your brain shoots out an Idea, write it down, draw a napkin sketch, don’t worry if it’s a bad idea. By writing it down, you will start marinating it and it may end up being the million $ idea you were always looking for.
2. Right questions should be asked to avoid bandaid solutions. – Example: They say California has a drought problem or a water scarcity problem. But maybe a better question to ask is, on earth we are surrounded by water, we must have a salt-water purification problem.
3. Empathy is key to experiencing people’s pain points and fuel connections. – Humans are habitual beings, we get comfortable with our environment and luxuries very quickly. When designing, it is important to break out of this comfort zone to create relevant work for the user.
4. Form should always follow function but never be forgotten. – A professional designer had no reason to not make a product look aesthetically pleasing.
5. Fool-proof the designs by prototyping and testing.
6. Story and value are always greater than the product itself. – Example: People do not buy an iPhone because it’s the best smartphone in the market, there are more powerful phones out there. People buy the value of the Apple brand, they buy Steve Jobs’ story of a remarkable company.
