“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”
William Morris
SimplicityInterior Design
Design Quotes
200 FAMOUS QUOTES · DESIGN
Design Quotes
Read 200 of the best design quotes about simplicity, beauty, function and creativity, from William Morris, Leonardo, Emerson, Confucius and more.
“The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.”
William Morris
DetailsHappiness
“Simplicity of life, even the barest, is not a misery, but the very foundation of refinement.”
William Morris
SimplicityMinimalism
“It is the allowing machines to be our masters and not our servants that so injures the beauty of life nowadays.”
William Morris
TechnologyCraftsmanship
“You can't have art without resistance in the material.”
William Morris
MaterialsCreativity
“Nothing should be made by man's labour which is not worth making.”
William Morris
PurposeQuality
“The past is not dead, it is living in us, and will be alive in the future which we are now helping to make.”
William Morris
HeritageInnovation
“Beauty is the promise of function.”
Horatio Greenough
FunctionBeauty
“The law of adaptation is the fundamental law of nature in all structure.”
Horatio Greenough
FunctionNature
“Construction should be decorated. Decoration should never be purposely constructed.”
Owen Jones
OrnamentFunction
“All ornament should be based upon a geometrical construction.”
Owen Jones
GeometryOrnament
“Beauty of form is produced by lines growing out one from the other in gradual undulations.”
Owen Jones
FormLines
“The principles discoverable in the works of the past belong to us; not so the results.”
Owen Jones
OriginalityLearning
“Simplicity, without variety, is wholly insipid.”
William Hogarth
SimplicityVariety
“Fitness of the parts to the design for which every individual thing is formed is of the greatest consequence to the beauty of the whole.”
William Hogarth
FunctionHarmony
“Intricacy in form leads the eye a wanton kind of chase.”
William Hogarth
Visual InterestForm
“The waving line is the line of beauty.”
William Hogarth
LinesBeauty
“The line of beauty is the result of perfect economy.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
EconomyBeauty
“Beauty rests on necessities.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
FunctionBeauty
“We ascribe beauty to that which is simple; which has no superfluous parts; which exactly answers its end.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
SimplicityPurpose
“The chief forms of beauty are order and symmetry and definiteness.”
Aristotle
OrderSymmetry
“Beauty depends on magnitude and order.”
Aristotle
ProportionOrder
“Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity.”
Plato
SimplicityHarmony
“Measure and proportion always pass into beauty and excellence.”
Plato
ProportionExcellence
“Beauty is that reasoned harmony of all the parts within a body, so that nothing may be added, taken away, or altered, but for the worse.”
Leon Battista Alberti
HarmonyPerfection
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About Design Quotes
Good design is everywhere, even when we do not notice it: in the chair we sit on, the book we read, the app we open and the city we walk through. Great design makes things useful, beautiful and easy to understand. It solves problems quietly and makes life a little better.
This collection brings together 200 of the best design quotes about simplicity, beauty, function, craft and creativity, from William Morris, Leonardo da Vinci, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oscar Wilde, Confucius, Aristotle and the pioneers of design thinking. Whether you are a graphic designer, UX designer, architect, artist or simply someone who loves beautiful things, these quotes will inspire your next project.
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers about Design quotes.
What is the most famous design quote?
William Morris's "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful" is one of the most famous design quotes ever. It sums up the balance between function and beauty that every good design needs.
What is the "golden rule" of design?
William Morris called his useful-or-beautiful principle a golden rule that fits everything. Horatio Greenough put it another way: "Beauty is the promise of function."
What are good quotes about simplicity in design?
Emerson wrote that we find beauty in things "which exactly answer their end" with no superfluous parts, and Plato said grace and good rhythm "depend on simplicity." William Hogarth added a warning that simplicity without variety is "wholly insipid."
What is the line of beauty?
The "line of beauty" is William Hogarth's name for a graceful S-shaped curve, described in his 1753 book The Analysis of Beauty. He believed flowing, waving lines create liveliness and interest.
What are good design quotes for UX and graphic designers?
Confucius's "The business of laying on the colours follows the preparation of the plain ground" and Proverbs 25:4 about removing dross are great reminders to build strong foundations and edit ruthlessly. Goethe's "In limitation the master first reveals himself" is perfect for working within constraints.
What is the difference between decoration and design?
Owen Jones taught that construction should be decorated, but decoration should never be purposely constructed. In other words, good design starts with function and structure, and decoration should enhance it rather than hide it.