Blog 3

Law #4: Learn.

This law stood out to me because it seems so simple without putting much thought into it. Of course our daily activities are simple, we've done them so many times! Learning how to use Adobe Creative Suite for this course is a great example: seasoned graphic designers can put something together or edit a photograph in a few hours, whereas I'm just beginning to learn how to use all of the basic tools. Doing the same task as another graphic designer would take me considerably longer. Reading about this law gave me the idea that learning how to do certain things now will save me time and stress in the future, therefore making my life seem more simple. If I have an opportunity to learn about something new, I'll take it; I'll never know when I'll need that information in the future.

Law #5: Differences.

As soon as I began to read about this law, it immediately reminded me of recent articles I've read concerning different kinds of relationships and the importance of similarities vs. differences. This law states that "simplicity and complexity need each other;" in order for the simplicity to be visible, complexity needs to be present in some shape or form. I can apply this law to help explain all of the relationships in my life and how they develop and thrive. These people clearly share similarities with me, because that is how we came together in the first place. However, these people need to have different qualities to complement mine and to keep the relationship from getting boring. In order to see the great similarities between myself and my friends, there needs to be some kind of difference in our characteristics to showcase them. Simplicity and complexity need each other as similarities and differences need each other. This law helps me understand a lot about finding the perfect balance in many aspects of my life.

Law #7: Emotion.

"More emotions are better than less." This phrase seems completely contradictory. To simplify means to lessen, right? After putting more thought into this phrase, I realized that it could tie in with law #10: subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful. Emotions are exactly what gives something meaning. In graphic design, specific photographs, fonts, colors, textures, etc. are incorporated to conjure an emotion from the viewer - happiness, guilt, nostalgia. The more emotion packed within an element, the bigger response it gets and the simpler it seems. When I try to relate this law to other aspects in my life, it's more difficult because I immediately assume that emotions complicate everything. Then I realize that the opposite is true: emotions allow us to make sense of things, give us "gut feelings" and reactions, sort everything out in our minds. Emotions allow us to simplify things that otherwise seem complicated.

Law #9: Failure.

The basis of this law is a little disheartening but absolutely true. While thinking about all of the things I want to simplify in my life, I need to accept that there are things that I cannot make easier, just like the impossible feat of breaking down a prime number. I believe that most things can be made simple by stripping away anything unnecessary and leaving the bare minimum. However, there are some exceptions where almost everything is necessary and simplicity is near impossible: that's when law #2 (organize) comes into play. These exceptions may never be "simple", but they can be sorted and appear to be simpler. This seems like an effort to disguise or cover up the fact that these things can never be truly simple. When applied to life examples, it's easy to think of instances where we try our hardest to make something simple - organizing it, trying to conceal it, etc. - but these are facades to hide their complexity.