The Shape of Design
Eloquent
Inspirational

The Shape of Design

Frank Chimero β€” 2012

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Reviews

Photo of Michael Knepprath
Michael Knepprath@mknepprath
4 stars
Apr 4, 2024

You know what? I enjoyed it. Self-indulgent, YES, but there are lots of fun anecdotes, and the points being made are good.

Photo of Ajit Panigrahi
Ajit Panigrahi@ajitzero
5 stars
Mar 10, 2024

A must-read for absolutely anyone, doing anything. > "Our questioning, and the imagination it inspires, allows us to perform the most important magic: to make the world grow by revealing what was right before our eyes."

Photo of Jayme Cochrane
Jayme Cochrane@jamesco
3 stars
Dec 20, 2023

A lot of meandering for such a short book. The goods are very good, but there's a lot of fluff in between.

Photo of Nat Welch
Nat Welch@icco
2 stars
Dec 29, 2021

I wanted this to go deeper and be more put together than it was.

Photo of Michael Bowman
Michael Bowman@bowmanmc
5 stars
Sep 14, 2021

Such a great book!

Photo of Jeremy Cote
Jeremy Cote@cote
4 stars
Aug 7, 2021

I found this little book to be quite enjoyable. The message was great, and Chimero sucks you in with his writing. I'm not a designer by trade so I can't attest to how this resonates with others, but I found the book to be a great read.

Photo of Zane Shannon
Zane Shannon@zcs
5 stars
Dec 13, 2024
Photo of Kiryl K
Kiryl K@kkrll
4.5 stars
Oct 21, 2023
+2
Photo of Henning
Henning@hnnngb
4 stars
Mar 13, 2023
Photo of Diogo Maia Caetano
Diogo Maia Caetano@diogo
5 stars
Dec 5, 2022
Photo of matthew
matthew@matthewlee01
4 stars
Jan 27, 2024
Photo of Andreas Spiegler
Andreas Spiegler@andreasspiegler
4 stars
Dec 25, 2023
Photo of Michael Ernst
Michael Ernst@beingernst
5 stars
Dec 18, 2023
Photo of Stanley Wood
Stanley Wood@stanleywood
4 stars
Aug 30, 2023
Photo of Luke Dorny
Luke Dorny@luked
4 stars
Jul 9, 2023
Photo of Ilja Panic
Ilja Panic@iljapanic
4 stars
May 12, 2023
Photo of Claire Taylor
Claire Taylor@clairetaylor
4 stars
Mar 28, 2023
Photo of brittany forks
brittany forks@brit
4 stars
Mar 12, 2023
Photo of Jake Yard
Jake Yard@jacobyard
3 stars
Mar 12, 2023
Photo of Audrey Kalman
Audrey Kalman@audkal
5 stars
Feb 25, 2023
Photo of Simon Lund Larsen
Simon Lund Larsen@marsnielson
4 stars
Feb 6, 2023
Photo of Matt Felten
Matt Felten@mattfelten
5 stars
Feb 4, 2023
Photo of Kate Sigrist
Kate Sigrist@katesigrist
5 stars
Aug 29, 2022
Photo of Lupas Alexandru
Lupas Alexandru@lupas
1 star
Apr 20, 2022

Highlights

Photo of Fabian
Fabian@fabians

The first step of any process should be to define the objectives of the work with Why-based questions. The second step, however, should be to put those objectives in a drawer. Objectives guide the process toward an effective end, but they don't do much to help one get going.

Photo of Fabian
Fabian@fabians

Design can speak the tongue of art with the force of commerce.

Photo of Fabian
Fabian@fabians

The designer acts as a proxy for the audience's needs while arguing for her own creative concerns. This makes the whole arrangement precarious, because it means that the designer is being paid by the client, but is obligated to the audience, for it is the audience's presence that imbues the work with its value. It is a double-allegiance, a necessary duplicity. Design's two-faced behavior is a product of its middle position between the elements it connects. Bridging two things means a bond with both of them.

Photo of Fabian
Fabian@fabians

Design doesn't need to be delightful for it to work, but that's like saying food doesn't need to be tasty to keep us alive. There is a tendency to think that to delight someone with design is to make them happy. Indeed, the work may do that, but more appropriately, the objective is to produce a memorable experience because of its superior fit.