Twenty rules

I've read a lot of articles like this book introduction online and you come to notice that almost every one of them is the same, easy enough. Knowing the "rules" of design is vital in creating acceptable work, but good work is produced when a designer knows how to bend/break the rules successfully. I try to do this with all of my work but unfortunately most of the time our school projects are simply bout following the rules strictly, such as the type 01 final.

Some of the best advice that I have ever gotten is simply that when reading articles like these rules we need to only take in that information that matters most to us. Of these twenty rules, I chose a few that really stuck out and seemed the most important to me:

1. Have a Concept

This is something that I often ignore as a web designer, but it is absolutely necessary to have a concept behind your design or as put here, "it's an empty, although beautiful, shell." While a large part of what we do is to make the design look awesome and be awe-inspiring, the concept or as Tad put it as the, "Oh wow moment," is the most important aspect in the design itself. Developing an effective concept is hard but there are process steps and brainstorming methods that help us develop successful concepts. Concepts make our work clever and memorable and without them our work is bs.

7. If you can do it with less, then do it.

Everybody should have this rule listed on their blog! While there are times where decoration and graphic insanity is definitely necessary, 98% it is absolutely necessary to make it as minimal as you can. Someone once told me that the design isn't completed when you have added in as much as possible, but a design is complete when you have taken as much out of the design as possible. Design then minimize.

8. Negative space is magical -- create it, don't just fill it up!

Negative space is awesome and creates for very friendly design. I believe that a great design has planned negative space and that negative space creates a very professional layout. In web design white space is of the essence. Negative space is tricky though and many designers do not utilize it correctly. If not done with precision, the design can seem unbalanced, awkward, and unpleasing; but if done correctly the design can look very professional and clean.