I stumbled upon Dieter Rams 10 design principles of good design a while ago and I constantly refer to back to them so i thought I would share them with the you. If you don’t know who Dieter Rams is a quick Google search will amaze you and defiantly bring you up to speed on one of the pioneers of modern design.

Here are the

01. Good design is innovative.
It does not copy existing product forms, nor does it produce any kind of novelty just for the sake of it. The essence of innovation must be clearly seen in all of a product’s functions. Current technological development keeps offering new chances for innovative solutions.

02. Good design makes a product useful.
The product is bought or used in order to be used. It must serve a defined purpose — in both primary and additional functions. The most important task of design is to optimize the utility of a product’s usability.

03. Good design is aesthetic.
The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products we use every day affect our well-being. But only well-executed objects can be beautiful.

04. Good design helps us to understand a product.
It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product talk. At best, it is self-explanatory.

05. Good design is unobtrusive.
Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should therefore be both neutral and restrained, to leave room for the user’s self-expression.

06. Good design is honest.
It does not make a product more innovative, powerful or valuable than it normally is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept.

07. Good design has longevity.
It does not follow trends that become outdated after a short time. Well designed products differ significantly from short-lived trivial products in today’s throwaway society.

08. Good design is consequent to the last detail.
Nothing must be arbitrary. Thoroughness and accuracy in the design process shows respect toward the user.

09. Good design is concerned with the environment.
Design must make contributions toward a stable environment and sensible raw material situation. This does not only include actual pollution, but also visual pollution and destruction of our environment.

10. Good design is as little design as possible.
Less is better — because it concentrates on the essential aspects and the products are not burdened with non-essentials. Back to purity, back to simplicity!

For any one who doesn’t know tool, or the shear compleaxity of there music this might be a little lost on you, but this kid is ten and pulling out Vicarious with near Danny Carey percision! Did I mention that he’s only 10!?

For the most part, drummers these days are lazy and talentless – 4/4 drum beats with not too much in the way of ‘music’ to them. The same old and tried beats. Drummers like Danny Carey and TeddyZ (Youtube kid, not sure of his name) really make the drums an instrument of expression! I love it

Check out the video and comment on his you tube page, this is what music and drumming is all about!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Superb reference posts on what happened in the design year of 2007, covering everything from the basic principles of design, via typography and colour to advanced design tips & tricks.

Highly recommended!

The 50 Most Popular Web Design Blog Posts, Resources & Cheat Sheets of 2007

You The Designer has put together a list of 99 internet sites that are a must for any graphic designer – seasoned or beginner.

Many of these I already use and there is a tone more. Great list!

Check it out! =>

Adobe Photoshop has amazing power right at your fingertips, it also has amazing power underneath the hood that for many people never see the light of day. Techlicious.tv have put together a fantastic article that lists 53 of the ‘hidden’ features underneath Adobe Photoshop.

I did have these listed here but by request by the original author I have removed them. Regardless of where they are located they are fantastic tips so head over to Techlicious.tv.

Very useful list indeed :)

I stumbled onto this page whislt watching my screen saver! (Thanks Dig Labs for the Arc Screen Saver!)

17 Fantastic free photos of crystal clear wallpapers… eight different resolutions, up to an incredible 2560×1600…!

 Click here…

LOVEPIXEL

This just has to been seen to believe! It’s like “Where’s Wally” for pixel art!

There is no artist name that I can find, so if you know who’s made this amazing artwork, please comment so I can post the artists name.

WARNING: Will take quite a while to load, on dial-up? Don’t bother – 25 x 2000px x 2000x PNG’s

Adobe Illistrator Street Art

“Splash Array”