This reminds me of one of Piet Hein's best grooks:
Meeting the eye
You'll probably find
that it suits your book
to be a bit cleverer
than you look.
Observe that the easiest
method by far
is to look a bit stupider
than you are.
More grooks (some may even be relevant to design but almost all are
worth reading) can be found here
http://www.leptonica.com/cachedpages/grooks/grooks.html
********
Also, on my door is the following note:
Punya's first law of writing: Simply, give complexity its due.
... the idea(s) being, (a) Good writing is very simple, all you have to
do is respect the richness of what you are trying to write about; AND
(b) Good writing is about respecting complexity but doing so in as
simple a manner as possible. I use this with my students all the time
(though I am not sure I have made them repeat it!).
I do think this (simply, give complexity its due) may work as a maxim,
broadly, for design as well.
~ punya
--------------------------------------
Punya Mishra
Web: http://punyamishra.com
Blog: http://punya.educ.msu.edu/blog/
On 11/27/12 3:06 PM, Gunnar Swanson wrote:
> Again, I don't know if this is specifically a design maxim but it's important enough that I make my students repeat it after me:
>
> "Its always better to look stupid than to be stupid."
>
>
> Gunnar
> ----------
> Gunnar Swanson
> East Carolina University
> graphic design program
> http://www.ecu.edu/cs-cfac/soad/graphic/index.cfm
>
> Gunnar Swanson Design Office
> 1901 East 6th Street
> Greenville NC 27858
> USA
>
> [log in to unmask]
> +1 252 258 7006
>
> http://www.gunnarswanson.com
>
>
>
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