The Power of Simplicity

When I first saw these 2 pieces of work I thought "How simple. I wish I'd thought of something as simple as that!"

It's difficult to make something simple. To distill a thought down to it's purest form, removing any ambiguity is the most difficult task there is for any creative person. The legendary John Maeda has written extensively on the subject on his blog and in his book "The Laws of Simplicity".

He has drafted these 10 laws:

1. Reduce - The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction.

2. Organise - Organization makes a system of many appear fewer.

3. Time - Savings in time feel like simplicity.

4. Learn - Knowledge makes everything simpler.

5. Differences - Simplicity and complexity need each other.

6. Context - What lies in the periphery of simplicity is definitely not peripheral.

7. Emotion - More emotions are better than less.

8. Trust - In simplicity we trust.

9. Failure - Some things can never be made simple.

10. The One - Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful.

Any time I feel complexity getting in the way of an idea I refer to these laws and methodically work through them to return to simplicity. With our industry expanding and morphing so rapidly it's easier than ever to make complex solutions to simple problems. But it's important to remember that in the days of transmedial storytelling, a simple idea is easier to execute and understand than a complex one.


I've only scratched the surface of simplicity in this post so if you want to learn more on the subject John Maeda goes into extensive detail of the 10 laws, and simplicity here on his blog.