design principles
Rules for making
Design principles are fundamental guidelines that shape how something is created—whether a building, software interface, product, or visual composition.
They represent the underlying philosophy governing decisions about form, function, and user experience.
Common examples include simplicity, consistency, hierarchy, and accessibility.
In any field, design principles help creators make coherent choices: The app's design principles prioritize ease of use over feature density.
Organizations often codify their own: Google's Material Design principles emphasize bold graphics and intentional motion.
- usabilityEase of interaction quality
- user experienceInteraction quality perception
- visual weightPerceived mass in composition
- proportionComparative relation of parts
- contrastNotable difference between things
alignment · consistency · affordance · rhythm · unity · form follows function · less is more · modularity · emphasis · negative space · white space · hierarchy · accessibility · scalability · balance · adaptability · sustainability · symmetry
- aestheticsaesthetics, aesthetic, beauty, beautiful, ugly
- designfunctionality, emphasis, unity, typography, logos
- design engineeringsystems thinking, requirements, specifications, optimization, modularity
- fashion aestheticscottagecore, dark academia, clean girl, mob wife, old money
- structural engineeringstructural analysis, structural steel, structural engineering, stress analysis, shear forces
- furniturebed, beds, chair, chairs, table
design principlesimprovisation
Spontaneous, unplanned creation
caprice · gut instinct · trial and error · shooting from the hip · winging it
design principleschaos
Complete disorder and confusion
disorder · randomness · entropy · incoherence · disorganization