Doing a bit of personal digging into philosophy earlier this week, I came across the Zen concept of Wabi Sabi.
Breaking it down, Wabi Sabi 侘寂 is a view of the world which embraces the concept of transience. The idea that, simply stated, that which isn’t done is still beautiful.
For designers, I think this is a very important concept to grasp because nothing we do is every, truly, done. There is always a line in the sand, a point at which we must accept the child birthed before our eyes, from our hands, as a final form.
There are seven main principles behind Wabi Sabi. I want to use them as a framework to talk a bit about design as a field and moreso, designing for the iPhone which can be a very limiting platform.
FUKINSEI imbalanced, uneven
Fukinsei describes the beauty in chaos. Odd numbers, wood grains, pebbles in a stream.
It is important in a design to break out of the box. The world we create in these computerised boxes can be overwhelmingly rigid. A line is a line, accurate to the most tiny measurement. Beauty can lie in a crooked line, a broken grid, mis-laid text and even something created without any rules at all. I have taken inspiration from the chaos in a teenager’s myspace page design and if that isn’t imbalance, then I don’t know what is.
KANSO simple, basic
Kanso is the elimination of the ornate.
All that Web 2.0 shine, those drop shadows and fake Photoshop bevels won’t make a poor design look better and more often than not they will make it look much worse. Often times I find myself at the end of a project taking a design and ripping out the bits and pieces that distract the user away from that which truly matters.
That often repeated mantra ever applies: Keep it simple, stupid.
KOKOU austere, aged
Kokou is about respecting maturity for the wisdom and maturity that it brings.
A funny thing about design is that mostly people can take a look at something and see intuitively whether it has been developed and evolved to a sufficient extent.
Taking a design and working on it over and over until it feels finished. Stepping back, sleeping on it, working on it again with fresh perspective, these are all steps in creating a good product.
SHIZEN natural
Here it is all about the forces of nature and allowing them to take shape without interference by us. We don’t really know better and it is a folly of imposition for us to try.
In design this is about letting the idea shine through without trying too hard to give it a veneer or polish. Sometimes rough is good enough. As hard as it is for me to admit, sometimes the roughest and least appealing design can be incredibly successful.
YUGEN subtly profound
Yugen is suggesting hidden layers of meaning in a simple way.
Designing subtly is a dificult task. Some information screams to be brought to the fore while others do not. The idea here is to allow a layout to bring out that which is needed in a way which isn’t overly direct and distracting. Allowing the user to explore and learn on his own can be a great way to give them the information they need.
DATSUZOKU unworldly
Transcending the conventional and the traditional.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of going with what works. Standards, guidelines, grids, rules - these things will help you get to a certain level of design but beyond that you have to learn to listen to your intuitive self and create new paths which others have not walked before. It’s OK to be different and try new things. It’s OK to make mistakes.
Be different. Take risks.
SEIJAKU calm
This is probably the hardest thing for me. Being calm, keeping it together even under stress.
The simple fact of the matter is that I have a fun job and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to do what I do. I take great strength from that. It’s easy to get lost in the work, the pressure and the high expectations that clients can have. It is important to sometimes take a step back and have a little perspective.
Finishing
This really isn’t stuff that I know that much about. Writing this has been as much an exercise for me as anything else.
Before I go, I wanted to give a big thanks to AENUI for his great site.
Thanks for reading. As always, feedback is very welcome.
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