“Cleanliness is next to Godliness”. Whether you are religious or not, most people recognize the importance of cleanliness. From a conceptual standpoint, cleanliness can apply to any type of design. In your first Art 1010 class in college, one of the very first things that you learn is the need to draw lightly. This allows you to draw over or erase your mistakes and move on without having ugly/noticeable spots. As it is one of the first principles of art, it’s not hard to see how important it is to have design that is “easily cleanable”. If you are a website designer working with code, it’s important to implement a format or code that is easy to go back and fix if mistakes arise. If you are a graphic designer, it’s important for you to clean up extra paths or strokes that might appear from your work on Adobe Illustrator. If you are an interior designer, you might pay extra attention to cleaning and window washing. Whatever kind of designer you are, cleanliness is important. Here is why clean design is undervalued:
- Clean Design Isn’t Visible at First Glance
There is a huge difference between functional and well-done. At first glance in the design world, you might not be able to see any problems with a particular design. It’s only when you look closely that you can notice the difference between clean and messy design. If you are in website design, the button that you coded might look great but when you click on it, it might not work correctly. More subtly, the button might send the user to a receiving page that then redirects the user to the landing page. This is messy design and though it might not seem like a big deal (the website still functions), it can definitely impact the overall feel of the website (the site isn’t well-done).
- The Overall Feel of Design is Where the Money is Made
Anything that detracts from what the design is trying to emphasize must be eliminated at all costs. If you had the perfect interior design that emphasized a painting beautifully in your home, but there was a crack in the drywall, the whole aesthetic of the design would be flawed. This one little crack could potentially ruin an otherwise great design. Clean design is basically anything that gets out of the way of the design. It’s making sure that nothing detracts from the overall whole of the design.
- Clean Design = Happy Customer
What a lot of designers say is that they don’t go through the creative process for the money, they go through the process for their love of design. Although this is certainly true in many circumstances, to some degree we are all concerned about the money that our services bring in. By showing the customer that you care enough to pay attention to detail you are showing that you are investing in the customer’s happiness. This in turn, leads to more money in your pocket. I remember a particular experience that shifted me from a Taco John’s customer to a Taco Bell customer for life. It was simply the care that was put into the bathroom. I remember walking into the bathroom and seeing dirty spots and even mold on the walls. It was not a welcoming environment, and for that, I am sold on Taco Bell for my Mexican fast food needs. Seriously though, how hard is it to clean the wall?
Conclusion
In conclusion, the interior design of the White House in DC would differ from the exact same interior design elsewhere because it is kept perfectly clean, and maintained at all times. If you really want your design to pack a punch, you will pay attention to those little details. Whether you are an interior designer, website designer, fashion designer, or graphic designer, clean design is the thing that can take your design from good to great.
