General Design

Design is a wide-ranging field. Broadly, it is about developing solutions that solve a problem, meet a need, or look a certain way. Without a lot of coercion, most anything can be considered design. Maybe that's part of what makes it interesting to me.

Despite design's breadth, there are fundamental principles that can be learned. This study explores those. What makes a design good? What makes it aesthetically pleasing? Are those two things even different? I'm excited to dive in and find out.

I draw my inspiration from the people who seem able to deliver good designs across a variety of fields - people like Leonardo DaVinci, Tom Ford, Dieter Rams, and Steve Jobs. 

I'm going to make a tour of the foundational books on design, plus a few that I just find interesting. There are enough other projects I am pursuing that will incorporate what I learn, so I don't feel the need to do a design capstone project. My hope is that my own designs will become more useful and more beautiful, and I'll be better able to recognize utility and beauty in other people's designs.