“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
Steve Jobs
FunctionProduct Design
Design Quotes
200 FAMOUS QUOTES · DESIGN
Design Quotes
Read 200 of the best design quotes from Steve Jobs, Dieter Rams, Charles Eames, Paul Rand, Milton Glaser, Jony Ive and more on simplicity, function, creativity and great design.
“Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it's really how it works.”
Steve Jobs
FunctionDesign Thinking
“The broader one's understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have.”
Steve Jobs
EmpathyExperience
“Good design is making something intelligible and memorable. Great design is making something memorable and meaningful.”
Dieter Rams
Great DesignMeaning
“Good design is as little design as possible.”
Dieter Rams
SimplicityMinimalism
“The details are not the details. They make the design.”
Charles Eames
DetailsCraftsmanship
“Recognizing the need is the primary condition for design.”
Charles Eames
Problem SolvingPurpose
“Eventually everything connects: people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se.”
Charles Eames
ConnectionsQuality
“A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
SimplicityPerfection
“Design is the method of putting form and content together. Design is so simple, that's why it is so complicated.”
Paul Rand
FormGraphic Design
“Everything is design. Everything!”
Paul Rand
Design EverywhereShort Quotes
“To design is to communicate clearly by whatever means you can control or master.”
Milton Glaser
CommunicationGraphic Design
“There are three responses to a piece of design: yes, no, and WOW! Wow is the one to aim for.”
Milton Glaser
Great DesignAmbition
“Design is thinking made visual.”
Saul Bass
Visual ThinkingShort Quotes
“Good design is good business.”
Thomas J. Watson Jr.
BusinessValue
“A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.”
Douglas Adams
UsabilityFunny
“A camel is a horse designed by committee.”
Alec Issigonis
CommitteesFunny
“Any product that needs a manual to work is broken.”Elon Musk
UsabilityProduct Design
“For a new technology to be affordable to the mass market, you need economies of scale, and you need to iterate on the design. You need to go through a few versions.”Elon Musk
IterationInnovation
“Everyone designs who devises courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones.”
Herbert A. Simon
Design ThinkingProblem Solving
“Design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life, necessary for everyone in a civilized society.”
Walter Gropius
BauhausEveryday Life
“Design is not for philosophy, it's for life.”
Issey Miyake
Everyday LifeFashion
“I don't design clothes, I design dreams.”
Ralph Lauren
FashionDreams
“Fashion fades, only style remains the same.”
Coco Chanel
StyleFashion
“A shoe is not only a design, but it's a part of your body language, the way you walk.”
Christian Louboutin
FashionBody Language
Related Topics
About Design Quotes
Design is everywhere: in the phone in your hand, the chair you're sitting on, the app you open every morning, the logo on your coffee cup and the city streets you walk through. Good design solves problems so smoothly that we barely notice it. Great design makes us feel something.
This collection brings together 200 of the best design quotes from legendary designers and creators, including Steve Jobs, Dieter Rams, Charles and Ray Eames, Paul Rand, Milton Glaser, Saul Bass, Jony Ive and Don Norman. Whether you work in graphic design, UX, product, fashion, interiors or architecture, these quotes will sharpen your thinking. For more, explore our [Art Quotes](/topics/art-quotes) and [Architecture Quotes](/topics/architecture-quotes).
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers about Design quotes.
What is the most famous design quote?
Steve Jobs's "Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works" is the most quoted. Dieter Rams's "Good design is as little design as possible" and Mies van der Rohe's "Less is more" are close behind.
What are Dieter Rams's principles of good design?
Rams set out ten principles, saying good design is innovative, useful, aesthetic, understandable, unobtrusive, honest, long-lasting, thorough down to the last detail, environmentally friendly, and "as little design as possible."
What is a good quote about UX design?
Frank Chimero said, "People ignore design that ignores people." Jared Spool added that good design "becomes invisible. It's only when it's done poorly that we notice it."
What are some quotes about simplicity in design?
John Maeda said simplicity "is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful." Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote that perfection is achieved "when there is nothing left to take away."
What are some Indian design and architecture quotes?
Charles Correa summed up his philosophy as "Form follows climate," and B.V. Doshi described architecture as "a backdrop for life."
What is a short design quote?
Try "Less, but better," "Design is thinking made visual," "Everything is design. Everything!," "Don't make me think" or "Form follows function."