The Nature of Design

by Peg Faimon

Let the world be your guide to design principles

Get a jolt of inspiration mixed with classic design principles! The Nature of Design teaches you the fundamentals of design illustrated through images from everyday life.

The principles and elements of design shape our world - the curves of the human body, the color of a flower, the repetitive pattern on a building. You'll visually learn to recognize how surroundings in our daily lives merge with the fundamentals of design for awe-inspiring results.

The Nature of Design also uses case studies - from brief to solution - to demonstrate the effective blending of design elements into a holistic creation. You'll gain a thorough understanding of the principles of good design and their application when you pick up this invaluable tool!

Genres: Design, Architecture, Nonfiction

200 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[irfan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple yet insightful look at what makes a design good, or aesthetically pleasing. Principles highlighted are clear, concise and interesting, yet seemingly common sensical when one considers them in the grander overall scheme of things with regards to borrowing design from mother nature. A good start point for those interested in basic design and biomimicry.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had it out of the library so long they wouldn't let me renew it again. Great book

[Andrew Tatge]

This is a good book for introducing a person to aesthetics and design. I think it would help a person new to evaluating aesthetics break down what it is they like or don't like about the appearance of an environment or objects around them. It also does a good job of showing that designs are not rooted in any one medium. In this way, it reminded me of Eva Zeisel's "On Design" and Ellen Lupton's "Design Your Life"—it's a good introduction that could be easy to blow through, but the examples reward the effort put into noticing and evaluating why the picture fits a chapter's theme. In particular, I enjoyed when it doctored photos to show how slight changes would improve or worsen a design.

It does stress that design is also about solving a problem, and that the process involves iteration, but the former is described very generally and the latter is explored in 4 brief (but sufficiently varied and interesting) case studies at the end: a logo, a creamer jug, a floor plan and a building exterior. These better help illustrate the iterative nature of design and hint at the problem solving nature, but leaves the client or user's perspective largely unaddressed. Questions of usability never come up.

That being said, it's still a nice reference book of fundamentals. It's easy to skim through and the examples were useful. Taken with another text about the more "invisible" facets of design, it's a nice introductory text that would benefit non-designers and the newly initiated.