Quotations have long been a source of inspiration and illumination.
As the poet Louise Guiney once wrote, “Quotations (such as have point and lack triteness) from the great old authors are an act of reverence on the part of the quoter, and a blessing to a public grown superficial and external.” Accurately using quotes pays homage to the original speaker and educates your audience.
Here’s a list of design quotes to motivate and guide you. Whether you’re in the world of graphic design, interior design, or UX design these words can be a source of inspiration to jumpstart your creative thinking.
Quotes about the creative process
Even as design professionals often have to practice creativity on a deadline, creative inspiration can strike at unexpected moments. Developing your approach to creative work can make it easier to access ideas when you need them. Here’s how famous writers, artists, and designers think about their creativity:
1. “To execute a vision, good or bad, you’ve got to tune out the noise.” —Jonathan Adler, potter, and interior designer.
2. “An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.” —Edwin Land, inventor of the Polaroid camera
3. “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” —Maya Angelou, poet, author, and civil rights activist
4. “In any creative process, the hardest thing is putting the pen to paper. You walk around the room staring at a blank piece like, ‘What if I don’t make a good song? What if I don’t make a good book? What if I don’t make a good painting?’ You just gotta put your pen to the paper and not judge your work.” —Nav, rapper and record producer
5. “I strive for two things in design: simplicity and clarity. Great design is born of those two things.” —Lindon Leader, designer and creator of the FedEx logo.
Quotes for breaking out of a creative rut
Even a great designer feels blocked occasionally. To break out of a creative rut, consider your problem from another angle. Learn a few things about perseverance and design principles for inspiration:
6. “To have a great idea, have a lot of them.” —Thomas Edison, inventor and businessman
7. “Styles come and go. Good design is a language, not a style.” —Massimo Vignelli, designer
8. “A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, writer and poet
9. “Rules are what the artist breaks; the memorable never emerged from a formula.” —Bill Bernbach creative director
10. “Genius is the ability to reduce the complicated to the simple.” —C.W. Ceram, journalist and author
11. “Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful.” —John Maeda, computer scientist and designer
Quotes for UX designers
User experience (UX) design is all about solving problems and creating smooth user experiences. These quotes from design and technology professionals emphasize the importance of empathy and simplicity for UX designers:
12. “To design an easy-to-use interface, pay attention to what users do, not what they say.” —Jakob Nielsen, researcher and cofounder of Nielsen Norman Group
13. “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” —Steve Jobs, cofounder of Apple
14. “Accessible design is good design.” —Steve Ballmer, American businessman and former CEO of Microsoft
15. "Good design adds value faster than it adds costs." —Thomas C. Gale, automobile designer
Quotes for new designers finding their footing
Starting out in design requires building your confidence and finding your voice as a designer. Read these quotes to discover how other designers think about their craft:
16. “Don’t try to be original, just try to be good.”—Paul Rand, art director and designer of UPS and IBM logos
17. “The role of the designer is that of a good, thoughtful host anticipating the needs of his guests.” —Charles Eames, designer
18. “Good design is a lot like clear thinking made visual.” —Edward Tufte, computer scientist, professor, and statistician
19. “Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future.” —Robert Peters, graphic designer and educator
20. “Design is not for philosophy, it’s for life.” —Issey Miyake, Japanese fashion designer
21. “Having no purpose is the function of art, so somebody else can look at it and ask a question. Design is different—you’re supposed to understand what’s going on. You can be delighted by it, intrigued by it, but you’re supposed to know it’s a hot dog stand.” —Paula Scher, graphic designer and painter
22. “Design is more than just a few tricks to the eye. It’s a few tricks to the brain.” —Neville Brody, graphic designer and art director
23. “Good design is good business.”—Thomas Watson Jr., businessman and president of IBM
24. “Truly elegant design incorporates top-notch functionality into a simple, uncluttered form.” —David Lewis, industrial designer
Quotes about bad design
What happens when design goes wrong? These quotations explain the stakes of good design and what happens when you don’t have it:
25. “If there’s one thing you learn by working on a lot of different websites, it’s that almost any design idea—no matter how appallingly bad—can be made usable in the right circumstances, with enough effort.”―Steve Krug, author and web programmer
26. “Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good designs fit our needs so well that the design is invisible, serving us without drawing attention to itself. Bad design, on the other hand, screams out its inadequacies, making itself very noticeable.” ―Donald A. Norman, author of The Design of Everyday Things
27. “Thinking about design is hard, but not thinking about it can be disastrous.” —Ralph Caplan, design consultant and author
Design quotes FAQ
How can quotes help my creative process?
Reading quotes from other designers can help get your creative juices flowing. Reviewing design quotes can illuminate new goals and styles of working.
What’s an example of a famous design quote?
Dieter Rams, author of Ten Principles for Good Design, once said, “Good design is as little design as possible.” This famous quote expresses Rams’s functional, minimalist design philosophy.
What’s the difference between a creative design quote and a design thinking quote?
Creative design and design thinking are two distinct parts of design. Creative design quotes often relate to visual appeal, artistry, and the creative process. Design thinking quotes, on the other hand, emphasize subjects like innovation, problem-solving, and user experience.
