Blog 3

The ten laws of simplicity include : reduce, organize, time, learn, differences, context, emotion, trust, failure, and the one. I found that in one way or another, these laws seemed to affect my life in some sort of way. A couple of them resonated more than others:

#1- Learn- I liked this one a lot. Knowledge is always very important in every aspect of your life. From knowledge in the subjects that you learn in the classroom, to knowledge about the community you live in, to knowledge about what profession you're getting yourself into, all the way to knowledge about the people you choose to surround yourself with. You learn all the time. The most important thing is deciding what to do with all the facts. Maeda states that "knowledge makes everything simpler." He uses turning a screw as an example for why knowledge makes things simple. Simply knowing something isn't good enough. It's what you do with that knowledge and how you apply it to the project at hand. I also like this law because it takes into account another law...time. It's never a waste to take time to learn a task.

#2- Differences- I think that this law is something that we call take into account. "Nobody wants to eat only dessert." I love this statement. I tended to be one of those people who absolutely hated change. There were minimal times that I can tell you that I looked forward to things not being consistent in my life. I don't think there is any one person that will always be comfortable in the face of change. Things have happened in my life that I have had to make revisions for which has lead me to the thought that change isn't all the horrible mess it's cracked up to be. "Without the counterpoint of complexity, we would not recognize simplicity when we see it." I think this is a fantastic point. In the job setting we will never have a day that is the same as the last. From the president, to a teacher, to a PR consultant, to a janitor...yesterday will never replicate tomorrow. Knowing that makes us appreciate that days work that we did, the fact that it's over, and the fact that we know that things will never be as they were the day before makes us appreciate the things we "desire."

#3 and #4- Love and Failure- These seem to be awkward to put together but I feel like when I think personally about why these two resinate in my life so much, the meanings are very similar. Love- "More emotions are better than less" and Failure- "Some things can never be made simple. Having more emotions about a certain being or entity will mean that it's not going to be simple. Then again, having more emotions about something means that you are more invested in that thing. In a relationship, being happy all the time isn't healthy. It's important to be comfortable enough to be upset, challenged, trusting, optimism, awe etc. Enter..Failure. When things can never be made simple doesn't necessarily mean that the complication(s) or situation(s) that arise will be negative. We get too comfortable in life. We like what is simple and what will get us where, faster.

Each of the 10 laws of simplicity are statements that I can apply both to my everyday life and my life in graphic design. I stated mostly life interpretations of each law I chose.

Kelsey Ransom