Timeless, and iconic
It is better, and history shows the same thing: design that cares about function and quality lives longer. Products and services made that way become close to timeless. They reach feelings through simplicity and function.
Simple is hard. Complexity is easy.
This stays with me, and it sits under a lot of my work. Not only in visual design, but in other parts of life. Complexity is overwhelming. Simplicity is the hard magic. The trouble is that simple is difficult, and complexity is easy.
Most people can produce something overcomplicated and heavy. Few can point at the core and say this is the only thing that matters, and then remove the rest.
Substance before decoration
We are overstimulated almost everywhere we are. We are entertained, and our attention is pulled further and further from boredom and from ourselves. In my work I try to find substance, more than decoration.
Design that makes you think about something other than what you are doing right now is a distraction. It is noise. Advertising is made to pull your attention away from here. It does not lift the information you came for, or the task you want to finish. It makes that harder.
Design with a purpose other than helping you, or making you feel at ease, is stressful. It can even make you irritated. That is not what we want.
Manipulation and quick money, or something honest?
In purely economic terms, advertising and distraction are a manipulation for quick money and a short life. Good design is honest. It feels good, it is credible, it returns value over time, and it lives longer.
Choose something well made, with a long life
Do you want to build a business that lasts and feels good, or are you playing a short game? The choice is yours. If you want to build something with a long life and a real aesthetic, I am glad to help. That is what “design that lasts” means.