Whilst writing this blog I’ve always stuck to two golden rules.
Golden Rule 1:
Never, ever use the word *********** in a post.
Golden Rule 2:
Never, ever try and say anything intelligent or insightful. Ever.
What’s the point in trying to be intelligent or insightful, when (I’m not, and) there are hundreds of blogs out there written by far more intelligent people than myself?
But I was feeling reckless the other day and a thought occurred to me – I’m sure many others have written it before, but this is the way I see it. And it also needs saying again. (I was going Google it but decided against it for fear of finding out exactly how many other people have written about it.)
And the thought is this:
Simple is difficult.
Difficult difficult, lemon difficult, some might say.
Simple is the hardest thing to do.
Because when something looks simple, it means it looks natural.
And when something looks natural, it means it looks like nature.
Just think about that for a second.
The simpler something looks, the more like nature it is.
Now consider the fact that nature’s been working on her brief for over 4.55 billion years (plus or minus about 1%).
When was the last time a client gave you a deadline like that?
She’s been designing and redesigning, writing and rewriting, changing and adapting for 4.55 billion years.
That’s how long it takes to make something look natural.
So the next time you see something that looks obvious, or read something that feels natural, or think to yourself “I could have done that”, just remember: a ridiculously large amount of hard work has gone into that.
Simple is difficult.
(Right, that’s enough toss for one day. Promise to find something far more childish to post about tomorrow.)
Are you on drugs?
This is why I should have stuck to Golden rule number two.
Some people have said that I’m simple. I guess that means I’m a natural…
If you’d have Googled it, you wouldn’t have found the post I still haven’t got round to writing yet! This is the short version:
Starting from scratch is the way to create simple, just put in what you need and no more. Creating simple from something that’s already complex is difficult, it’s taking the time to take out all the crap you don’t really need, something that clients don’t like because they think everything they say and show is needed. It’s like trying to get the wife to throw away a totally unsuitable pair of shoes – there’s always some entirely irrational rationale as to why you can’t get rid of it.
The other problem with ‘simple’ is that it means different things to different people. For designers who work with smaller clients (and hence smaller budgets) a client asking for ‘something simple’ means they want something cheap, because, as you so rightly point out, they assume that simple is quicker to do than complicated – they’re wrong.
Are you ALL on drugs? … can i have some?
Graham – if internet rumours are true, yes you’re a natural.
Robert – great stuff.
Tim – Phil’s got some strong cheese you can have?
i’m going NOWHERE near Skeggs cheese!
As the quote goes, sorry for the long message. I didn’t have time to compose a shorter one.