Bookworm: Universal Principles of Design

In today’s world, we’re all designers. Whether it’s creating a powerpoint presentation, designing a website for your startup, creating a flyer for your kid’s school event or even taking a decision about your home interiors — we’re always dealing with design problems.

Most people believe that design skills are reserved for the creative lot — those who have a talent for art. But it’s not commonly known that a lot of aspects of design are actually rule-based. There’s a science to it; a formula if you will. And one doesn’t need to have an “eye” for design. Knowing the rules is good enough for us civilians.

Let me give you a few examples to make it more concrete what I mean by rules.

The L-shaped Layout

If you talk to landscape designers, they will tell you that it’s better to put three of the same kind of vertical structures — they could be pillars or trees — in your land, rather than four. Odd numbers just look better in that context. Now, why is it so is a matter of deeper investigation of human perception, but if you know this rule, you can instantly become an above average designer.

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