KISS

No, I’m not talking about Prince’s song or the famous band. I’m talking about a principle that can be applied to a lot of things in life, especially in design.

KISS is the acronym for KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID. It was “first coined by Kelly Johnson, lead engineer at the Lockheed Skunk Works (creators of the Lockheed U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird spy planes, among many others).” (Wikipedia)

This is a phrase that I have to tell myself over and over throughout the entire process of designing a logo, ad, business card, or any other type of media. It's an important aspect of design that many designers forget. All too often the tendency is to “over design” a project by adding and working and adding and working a piece until it’s dead.

I'm not saying that you shouldn’t play around with composition and elements in a design or work hard on a project, but I am saying the solution is simple. The solution is always simple.

A great way to start implementing this principle is to use only the necessary information in a design. Doing so allows the viewer a clear understanding of the piece, which is especially important in most advertising as you only have a second to grab their attention.

-Jake, Emogen designer