Chuang Tzu
The fish trap exists because of the fish; once you've gotten
the fish, you can forget the trap. The rabbit snare exists
because of the rabbit; once you've gotten the rabbit, you can
forget the snare. Words exist because of meaning; once you've
gotten the meaning, you can forget the words. Where can I find
a man who has forgotten words so I can have a word with him?
Zhuangzi, section 26 – External things, ca. 300 BC, translation by Burton Watson
John Pawson
The minimum could be defined as the perfection that an artefact
achieves when it is no longer possible to improve it by
substraction. This is the quality that an object has when every
component, every detail, and every junction has been reduced or
condensed to the essentials. It is the result of the omission
of the inessentials.
Minimum, 1996
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is
nothing left to add but when there is nothing left to take away.
Wind, Sand, and Stars, 1939, translation by Lewis Galantiere
Il semble que la perfection soit atteinte
non quand il n'y a plus rien a ajouter, mais quand il n'y a
plus rien a retrancher. Au terme de son evolution, la machine
se dissimule.
Terre des hommes, 1939
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
The Little Prince, 1943, translation by Katherine Woods
On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.
Le Petit Prince, 1943
Paul Graham
When you decide what infrastructure to use for a project,
you're not just making a technical decision. You're also making
a social decision, and this may be the more important of the two.
Great Hackers, 2004
Philip K. Dick
The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words.
Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
VALIS, 1981
Taligent
Remember that there is no code faster than no code
George Orwell
i. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
ii. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
iii. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
iv. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
v. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
vi. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
ii. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
iii. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
iv. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
v. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
vi. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
R. Buckminster Fuller
I seek through Comprehensive Anticipatory Design Science and its reductions to physical practices to reform the environment instead of trying to reform men being intent thereby to accomplish prototyped capabilities of doing more with less
'What I am Trying to Do', 1968
Dieter Rams
Good design is as little design as possible
Less, but better – because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials.
Back to purity, back to simplicity.
Less, but better – because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials.
Back to purity, back to simplicity.
simple efficient design (grocery bag handles)
Website created by gizmonaut while listening to Minimum Design Music.