Design Quotes Series

This post is one in a series about quotes that influence my design practice. I was asked to speak to an in-house design group about the topic of inspiration, and because my instinct was to quote Chuck Close and say, “Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work,” I thought I would talk about that instead.

“What works good is better than what looks good, because what works good lasts.“

– Ray Eames

Nothing becomes classic overnight. Generally they were the most successful example of their day, and they were successful because they were really good. They are the ones that made it through the filter of history and, for the most part, useful and durable perform better over time than trendy and pretty.

Sometimes, it is hard to tell if we like something we’re working on because its novelty appeals to us at this moment, or if it will stand the test of time. I try to think about it in terms of what makes a solution durable: ease of use, not so fancy that it breaks easily, easily extended and adapted, and low cognitive load.

Durable work sticks around and becomes the classics of tomorrow.