Simplicity
Simplicity is a design decision, not a shortcut. Complexity happens by default. Simplicity happens by design.
Everything starts complex. A first draft is long. A first design is busy. A first product has too many features. The work isn't adding — it's subtracting.
"To add value, subtract complexity." This applies everywhere. Communication. Products. Visual design. Business models. The person who can take a complicated idea and make it simple creates more value than the person who makes a simple idea complicated.
Simple doesn't mean easy. "If it looks simple, it was hard." The VV visual practice is built on this constraint: one idea, one image, black and white. No decoration. No complexity. The constraint forces clarity.
Most people add when they should subtract. More features, more words, more options. The opposite is usually the right move. "The less you write, the more you say."
Simplicity is also a competitive advantage. Complex things are hard to copy because they're hard to understand. Simple things are hard to copy because they require taste to achieve. Anyone can add. Few can subtract well.
Quotes
Complexity happens by default. Simplicity happens by design.
If it looks simple, it was hard.
To add value, subtract complexity.
The less you write, the more you say.
Complexity impresses your peers. Clarity impresses your customers.
Good marketing finds customers. Great marketing creates customers.
Courses
The entire course is an exercise in simplicity. Typography, restraint, negative space.
Simple products win. Speak in problems, solve in products.
Art
Workflows
Teach this concept
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