OSD was built on a simple philosophy. The old saying, “Anything worth doing, is worth doing right,” fits OSD perfectly.
At the heart of all our labors is good design – not only to benefit our clients and their customers, but also to satisfy our creative passions. But what makes good design?
The ten principles of good design
Design is a fundamental element regardless of the task at hand. This is well known to our individual craftspeople, teams, and specialists working under the OSD roof.
In the 1970’s, the German industrial designer Dieter Rams introduced his ten principles of “good design.” They still ring true today. Here is what he discovered:
Good design…
- Is innovative
- Makes a product useful
- Is aesthetic
- Makes a product understandable
- Is unobtrusive
- Is honest
- Is long-lasting
- Is thorough down to the last detail
- Is environmentally friendly
- Is as little design as possible
These guiding principles apply for all types of creative: whether you’re a writer, developer, graphic designer, brand strategist, project manager, or videographer. At OSD, good design is always at the heart of our labors.
Good design is as little design as possible
We need to really pay attention to Rams’ last point: good design is as little design as possible. What is he saying here? More or less, his message is that good design is “less, but better.”
If you think about it, simple, clean and functional design seems to work just about every time it is executed. For example, take a look at just about any Apple product, Porsche, or transit graphic worldwide. Usually they are functional, easy to understand, and enjoyable to use. This experience is exactly what we strive to create for our end users and consumers.
Regardless of the project size or media created, good design is an essential part of the work and a metric for success.
And after all, good design is in OSD’s DNA.
- Dan
Dan Linginfelter is OSD’s co-founder.
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