What is Good Design?

I had a Design Professor once tell me that there is no such thing as "bad" design. In order to define whether something is good or bad, you must first define the end goal for the design. When speaking of design as purely a medium for expressing one's self, then perhaps there is no such thing as "bad" design.

However, if your design is to be used for a particular purpose - say, for instance, commercial marketing of a product or service - then the effectiveness of that design in accomplishing that purpose will inevitably lead it to measured as being closer to "effective" or "good" design, or closer to "ineffective" or "bad" design.

Good commercial Graphic Design helps compel the viewer to act upon the product or service being offered. The old saying, "judging a book by it's cover" is generally the way in which consumers judge the worth of a service or product being offered (particularly a product or service that is new to the consumer), the ability of the entity to deliver what is being represented, etc.

Logo Identity or "branding" styles can change over time, or from industry to industry. But general principles have stood the test of time, and should be followed if you want to achieve "Good" design. A world-renowned Designer name Paul Rand had this to say about Logo design: "A logo cannot survive unless it is designed with the utmost simplicity and restraint". While the goal of every design is perhaps NOT to survive for long periods of time, and thus the "simplicity" and "restraint" criteria could be lifted in many design applications - the general principle remains the same. If you want a memorable design that will stand the test of time n the commercial field, more is not always better!

So, is there such a thing as "bad" design. In commercial design the answer is "ABSOLUTELY!".