The recipe for good design

Last time Steve jobs and I told you how good design can help you sell more. Today I'm going to show you what good (and bad) designs look like. I'll start by telling you what the number one design mistake is.

The number one design mistake is “too much design”. Good design is simple usually design. Good design is as little design as possible.
The primary function of design is communication and that becomes impossible when we over complicate our designs.

You don’t pour all the ingredients in your kitchen into every dish (This would be insane!). It’s the same in design. You don’t pour all your visual ingredients (colours, fonts, effects, images) into one design. Use these things like salt. Too much salt and the dish is inedible. But the right amount will elevate your meals.

A lot of people design things that look like my room after I get dressed. Mountains of clothes everywhere and I don’t know where to go!
They fill their art boards to the brim with ungodly amounts of unnecessary colours, fonts and effects. It gets to a point where our eyes don’t know where to go.

The solution: KISS (Keep it simple stupid).

All the ingredients, when used correctly in the right amount create magic.
What exactly is the right amount?
The right amount is “not a lot”. A maximum of two colours (excluding black and white) should be fine.
Two fonts are more than enough. And don’t use any unnecessary effects.

I know it feels like I'm cutting of your wings, like I'm holding back your inner master chef. But I'm not. These limitations make design beautiful. They are the reason we can read . Creativity needs Knowledge to perform at its best.

Apple, google, Microsoft, mailchimp, and stripe have access to the best designers in the world but they don’t go crazy with all their ingredients. These guys know what they are doing. Learn from them.