Humans are visual beings; we love looking at things we find pleasing. Pair that with functionality, and you’ve got some extraordinary brilliance. American architect Frank Lloyd Wright believed that a building should be pleasing to look at, connect with, and enrich the lives of those inside it. And such a philosophy should be behind any excellent design idea.
Members of this Reddit group post enjoyable and satisfying designs for the whole internet. They cover all fields: graphics, product, packaging, furniture design, and architecture. So feast your eyes on the best creations that brilliant designers have created over the years: A&D followers! And don’t forget to let us know your favorites.
01. This Poster, Designed By Armando Milani For The United Nations
02. Huts Made From Repurposed Boats, England
03. This Tissue Box
When we look at these creative design examples, few of us think about the process behind them. Like any other creative field, design has to have specific rules. The essential do’s and don’ts are similar, whether in graphic visuals, sports shoes, dining room furniture, or skyscrapers.
Every design must have seven elements: shape, color, space, form, line, value, and texture. Six of these elements are pretty self-explanatory, aside perhaps from value. In the design world, value refers to the intensity of a color, whether lighter or darker. Designers can use value to create the illusion of mass and volume in their work.
04. This House I Drove Past The Other Day, The Longer You Look, The Cooler It Gets?
05. Art Nouveau Door In Brussels, Belgium
06. Pencil Shavings Create Frilled Lizard
Color, shape, and others are not all you need for a great design. Aside from these technical details, the approach itself is more important. That’s the principles of design – how all these elements mentioned above are used.
This is where the personality and creativity of the designer come in. Some designers prefer to put usability at the forefront of their designs; others deem aesthetics the most crucial principle of a successful project.
07. Villeroy & Boch – La Boule
08. Rook Chess Set Design
09. Door Latch That Doubles As An Accessories Holder At A Public Restroom In Japan. Simple Concept, Straightforward Design, Elegant Execution
Don Norman, the author of The Design of Everyday Things and director of The Design Lab at the University of California, has written extensively about user-centered design (UCD). He deems the usability of a product to be more important than its aesthetics.
10. This Hour Glass With The Traffic Lights
11. This Pizza Menu
12. Safe Drive Awareness Ad
In user-centered design, a designer’s essential task is to create objects that solve the user’s problems. The Interaction Design Foundation describes UCS as “an iterative design process in which designers focus on the users and their needs in each phase of the design process.” UCD, therefore, requires research on the needs of the user before any concept of a design is brainstormed.
13. The Round-Door 1925 Rolls Royce Phantom I
14. Alzheimer Awareness Ad
15. The Way These Cat’s Tails Are Door Handles!
Some examples of UCD real-life examples include memory foam, developed by NASA, the Oral-B kids’ toothbrush, and chatbots. Memory foam was created for astronauts who had to experience significant pressure from the G-Force and could adapt to any space-bound body.
16. ‘Ballot’ Bins In Manchester To Encourage People To Not Litter
17. It’s Only A Drain But…
18. A Sculpture By German Sculptor And Draftsperson Karl-Henning Seemann That Doubles As A Handrail. Installed In 1981 And Remains Untitled, Is Located In The German District Of Schwäbisch Hall
The creators of the Oral-B kids’ toothbrush aimed to motivate kids to brush their teeth more – a thing all kids hate. The IDEO design team went against the common opinion that a kid’s toothbrush had to be smaller just because kids are smaller than adults. By applying UCD, the designers devised a brush with a more oversized handle and squishy parts for a better grip.
19. I Found This Ad For Pressure Washing
20. Blaupunkt Pop 70 Sound System – 1969
21. The Housing Estate Les Espaces D’abraxas, Built Near Paris In 1982
Did you know that the first chatbot was created in the 1960s? Its name was Eliza, a very basic Rogerian psychotherapist. Chatbots use UCD principles to improve the quality and authenticity of every interaction. It personalizes conversations to the user’s liking, thus embodying the essence of user-centered design.
22. IKEA Ads (2020?)
23. Samurai Vodka
24. Great Advertisement
What about aesthetics, you say? After all, it’s common knowledge that people like things that look pretty. Humans are wired to respond to visual stimulation, so an aesthetically pleasing design might distract from faulty usability. According to the Interaction Design Foundation, studies have shown that users regard a more visually appealing design as more usable than it is.
25. Safe Drive Awareness Ad
26. Inherited This Lamp From My Sister. The Toucan Lamp From Enea Ferrari, The First Children’s Lamp Made Of Plastic
27. Honey Packaging Designed By Studio Unbound
The golden rule, as Interaction Design Foundation states, is to use visuals to entice users: “Design’s critical functionality always comes first – an attractive product that draws users to use it for its main purpose.” Excellent aesthetics are what draws people in, and what makes them stay long-term should be the functionality of the design.
28. A Knife Holder
29. They Made The Old Escalators Into A Feature When Upgrading To New Ones
30. World Cancer Day Awareness Ad (2015)
Even Don Norman has changed his views on aesthetics over the years. In a revised 2013 version of The Design of Everyday Things, he admits, “aesthetics, pleasure, and fun play critically important roles.” He, therefore, updated his previous definition to “human-centered design.” Human needs, behavior, and capabilities are what good designers must have in mind.
31. I Quite Liked This Sign I Saw In Edinburgh
32. Alzheimer Awareness Ad
33. The Picture Of The Japanese Movie Advertisement Is Printed On Two Sides Of The Newspaper so that The Full Picture Could Be Seen Under Light
34. Unique Shelving
35. This McDonald’s Bill Board That Tells The Time
36. Volvo Ad
37. A Simple Mountain Napkin Holder
38. This Bench
39. Frozen Pizza Box Let’s You Easily Detach The Instructions
40. Safe Drive Awareness Ad
41. This Brick Looks Like Wood To Me
42. Cover Of Kafka Masterpiece
43. Land Rover – Passport Stamps – 2011
44. This Store Sign
45. The New Cover Of The Time Magazine
46. Finnish Company “Kiilto” Logo Uses Typography To Form The Flag Of Finland
47. Eye Disease Awareness Ad
48. This Water Bottle With A 3D Matterhorn
49. Ad For Heinz Ketchup
50. The Westin Bonaventure Hotel, LA
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