Thursday 9 October 2014

A Look at Design & Visual Communications

The 10 Aspects of Good Design: Part 1 of 2

Function, aesthetics, space and form. These are all fundamental ideas that designers have to wrestle with in their daily lives. As a matter of fact, there are 10 aspects of good design that every designer should be looking out for. Today we’ll be discussing five of these aspects. 

1) Aesthetics

We begin our list with the most obvious aspect. Aesthetics might very well be the most surface-level aspect that designers grapple with but while most may relate the term aesthetics to something that is superficial and subjective (beauty is in the eye of the beholder), it remains an integral part of design. An engineer could perhaps create a well-functioning product, but a good designer would take that design and add to its appeal through aesthetics, making its form a lot more appealing to the senses.

2)  Truthful

A good design is truthful and manages to convey to the consumer its intended use and information. A good design does not overpromise. For example, a student from a good Motion Graphic Design Diploma can tell you that a designer’s main job is to be able to communicate a message effectively and concisely through the use of animation and graphics. Of course, this falls mainly for designers who deal in visual communications, but the clarity of a product’s design identity has to stay true to its function in all aspects of design.

3)  Evergreen

It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Unlike fashionable designs that are seasonal, a good design lasts many years—even in today’s throwaway society.

4) Innovative

The possibilities for innovation are not, by any means, exhausted. Technological development is always offering new opportunities for innovative design. But innovative design always develops in tandem with the rapid advancement of technology, and can never be an ends to itself.

5) Understandable

It clarifies the product’s structure, and allows the product to clearly express its function by making use of the user’s intuition. It is at best, self-explanatory. Students partaking in motion graphic design diplomas, visual effects courses and other visual communication disciplines will be familiar with the concept of clarity through design.

So in summary, a good piece of design, has to be aesthetically pleasing, truthful, understandable, evergreen and innovative… amongst other things. We’ll be discussing the next 5 aspects of design in the 2nd part of the post so don’t miss it!

In the meantime, if you are interested in picking up a design course, why not check out MAGES? Aside from the Motion Graphic Design Diploma, MAGES also offers visual effects courses as a specialization within the Advanced Diploma in Animation.

If you have any questions or want us to cover anything, please do let us know. Until next time!

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