Einstein on Design

Okay, so not only is that man brilliant in general, his observations on life were astounding.  My roommate told me about the fish one recently.  "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."

 
But back to the point, while using Stumble today (my new favorite obsession although I am a few years too late) I was sent to a page of Einstein quotes.  To me, this quote, speaks well to the idea of ideal design.  We love making things more complex than they should be or dumb things down.  Dumbed down ideas in an overly complex product looks cool but is just a waste.  It's easier, like most wasteful things.   

Dieter Rams has what some people call the 10 commandments of good design.  The last one is "good design is as little design as possible."  Simplicity is hard, annoying hard.  It's hard in mathematical proofs, it's a pain in education and just as annoying in design.  Ideas and design should not be dumbed down to the lowest common denominator, just expressed as simply as possible. 

K.I.S.S.  - Keep It Simple, Stupid!