“Cut it down by half, leaving nothing out”
James M. Barrie, actor (1860–1937)
“You have to be interested in culture to design for it.”
Lorraine Wild, graphic designer
“…without emotion art is lifeless; without intellect it is shapeless.”
Charles Johnson in his 1949 book, The Language Painting
“It is not the horse that draws the cart, but the oats.”
Russian proverb
“A design isn’t finished until somebody is using it.”
Brenda Laurel, Ph.D., video game designer
“I mix them with my brains, sir.”
John Opie, painter (1761–1807), when asked how he mixed his colors
“The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions which have become hidden by the answers.”
James Baldwin, novelist (1924–1987)
“Eloquence is vehement simplicity.”
Richard Cecil, clergyman (1748–1810)
“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.”
Scott Adams, Dilbert cartoonist (b. 1957)
“Innovation! One cannot be forever innovating. I want to create classics.”
Coco Chanel, fashion designer (1883–1971)
“Drawing is design’s best friend, so never stop drawing.”
Von Glitshcka, illustrator and designer (website)
“Don’t agonize, organize”
Florynce Kennedy
“Clutter is not an attribute of information, clutter is a failure of design. So fix the design rather than stripping all the detail out of the map.”
Edward Tufte (b. 1942) (website)
“Luck is the residue of design.”
Branch Rickey, baseball executive (1881–1965)
“That which is static and repetitive is boring. That which is dynamic and random is confusing.
In between lies art.”
John Locke, philosopher (1632–1704)
“Design is the conscious effort to impose a meaningful order.”
Victor Papanek, designer and educator (1927–1998)
“Design is thinking made visual.”
Saul Bass, designer (1920–1996)
“In my opinion anyone interested in improving himself should not rule out becoming pure energy.”
Jack Handy, humorist (b. 1949)
“Beige is the color of indecision.”
Paula Scher, designer (b. 1948) (website)
“Trifles make perfection.”
Michelangelo, artist and engineer (1475–1564)
“If there’s no magic, how come when you burp up watermelon it tastes like cucumber?”
P.L. Frederick, designer and artist (website)
“Not the whole forest—just one leaf.”
P. L. Travers, novelist (1899–1996)