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Design Better with CRAP

lifehack.org — Probably not what you were thinking :) CRAP = Contrast / Repetition / Alignment / Proximity and all design starts from these four basic principles.

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  • theschwabregime, on 10/10/2007, -7/+15Now you can say "I design with CRAP!"
    • EBFoxbat, on 10/10/2007, -0/+19"This is my proposal, a fully integrated, highly optimized, CRAP design.
    • brocklese, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7Yeah it gets pretty annoying when your 65 year old professor thinks that it is soo funny he has to say it every single day...
      • BrapAllgood, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3But if the professor was 25, it'd be okay?!? You sound agist.
    • OwdenBowden, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1This was all a big heaping, steaming load of CRAP
  • PatNolan, on 10/10/2007, -10/+5You know, if you actually used crap, you could probably get an NEA grant.
  • thinq4yourself, on 10/10/2007, -9/+4I digg this crap
    • lillevillewilly, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1For some reason you're dugg down. That's crap!
  • wiifm69, on 10/10/2007, -3/+21dugg for title
  • ka05, on 10/10/2007, -2/+7Punny title aside, these are some good concepts that a lot of designers seem to overlook.
    • etandrib, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Correction: there are a few good concepts that sucky designers overlook. None of that was useful to me at all. In fact I'd say almost all of it is obvious and if that article helped you then you need to be looking for another career.
      • selrahc, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Who says this is for people that have a career in design? This stuff can be applied by anyone creating a home website or designing a flier for the local bake sale. If you already have a career in design this shouldn't be new to you. It's for the person who is looking to improve their garage sale sign, or the 15 year old kid who might be interested in a career some day. Good design, like spelling, should be practiced by everyone, not just the people who make a career of it.
    • matriculated, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Any designer should have learned this in their first week in design school - along with color theory, grids, the golden section, etc.
  • moosebaloney, on 10/10/2007, -3/+7Buried as inaccurate, should read: Make Your Designs Most Conjested with CRAP
  • cyberpope, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9Buried as Innacurate "Probably not what you were thinking" I was exactly thinking that the 4 letters stood for some wacky method.
  • allaboutdatiki, on 10/10/2007, -1/+30I've been a crappy designer for years.
  • loqqq, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10I use LAMP CRAP.
  • tim507, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3I had a professor who lived by this. he is an amazing professor.
  • gooddoggytreat, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2This was taught in my school, it works! Stick by it.
  • HardBap, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11The book Non-Designer's Design Book by Robin Williams is a great guide on CRAP.
  • evilTak, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2An article about CRAP design on a page that looks like CRAP. CRAPtastic.
  • tont0r, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Thank you for unleashing a new phrase that can now be reused with other such phrases as Tubes, DNF, will it run linux, etc
  • andr3, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Deja vu:
    http://www.thinkvitamin.com/features/design/how-crap-is-your-site-design

    Good tips, though.
  • mtb4me3000, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2I would rather K.I.S.S. than C.R.A.P.
  • SteaminTmann, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Even if I show this to the designers I work with, they won't apply it, because they're too arrogant to appreciate good advice about design....
  • Fincher, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0...I should have read that description before I went to the toilet.
  • cmiller1, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9designing with crap... must be an ad for dreamweaver ;)
  • FastZ, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Buried for not being the crap I was thinking about. Title is misleading.
  • Complexium, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1You can't design for CRAP!
  • cr1t, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9Next time my Boss says "This is CRAP" I'm taking it as a compliment.
  • EllisAshbrook, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1this article looks like CRAP.
  • MacParrot, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4All I know is everyone that's seen my website has agreed that it's CRAP! I used to think that was a bad thing.
  • TheBSG, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Summary:
    "Use the style function of Word."
  • planetoftheweb, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5When I teach this to my students, I always add another principle to the four basic ones. S- Subtraction. Designs don't need Filters, 3-D effects/grungy filters, etc. They needs to communicate an idea clearly.

    If when you take something out of a design, the message becomes clearer, then by all means do so. I think the great Albert Einstein nailed it when he said "Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler." That's the rule of subtraction at work.
  • DJosephDesign, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Wow. This is really old. The "CRAP" acronym comes from graphic designer Robin Williams' book The Non-Designer's Design Book from 1994.
  • atomicwedgie, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2Wow and I thought crappy design was ummmm... crappy. Now I am supposed to believe crappy design is actually uncrappy? What's next, ***** = Super Hyper Intelligent Technology?
  • pooponascoop, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1this is in the nondesigner's design book, by robbin williams.
  • neveskiet, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Old stuff...
  • gordonf238, on 10/10/2007, -5/+0Blah blah blah. Another pointless "rule" that pseudo-designers come-up with to make themselves appear smarter. Texture, value, size, layout hierarchy, and now this CRAP? Please, no good designer adheres to these rules. Sure they form the foundation of graphic design, but a good designer applies them subconsciously instead of referring to a visual diagram of these silly words.

    I've graduated from Parsons and now earn a 6-figure salary as an Art Director for a NYC agency, and never once have I really applied any of these design principles in my practice.

    It's just like pseudo-photographers always ranting about their lens, CCD noise, flash sync speed, etc. yet in the end, it's the guy next to them with a point-and-shoot that takes a better photo. Why? Because he has imagination.
    • cuddleparty, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1wow go ***** yourself. they aren't "rules" they're guidelines for when you're stuck or when you're tinkering. it's something to think about, is all – if you're into that.
      /disdain for pompous design assholes. you're why i hate this industry.
  • patrickyan, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3This is old... I learned this from [as stated above] Robin William's The Non Designer's Design book when I was 12.

    It's also been on Vitamin and Digg a few times.
  • AvengeX, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Buried. This was so last year.
  • picto, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Most of the comments I've read on this one have been pretty much along these lines: "This article is crap" or "Why would I follow these rules?". The article does present several very important topics. However, these really aren't so much of "graphic design" principles meant to be taken literally by an artist. Rather, I would say that these are more usability concepts than anything else.

    And yes, these are extremely important in "designing" a usable interface, whether that be for a piece of software, website, microwave, or what have you. But there are instances in which the rules presented by the article generally do not apply, but in any case, form should follow function. If you're going for a trendy, artistic-styled interface, then you would obviously be more concerned with the overall visual style of the page, but for something like a business site that provides some sort of service or sells something, you'll want to utilize these concepts to provide a much more uniform experience across the board.
  • DoMifer, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1I always design my sites with crap. In my case, it's not an acronym. >_
  • mkameli, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Not a bad little primer for beginners. As with any craft, you have to learn the fundamental basic rules so that you know when and how to break them. For a more in-depth, abstract look at design in general, I highly recommend the book, Universal Principles of Design: http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Principles-Design-Usability-Perception/dp/1592530079
  • JPOOPOO, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1well, if you're a designer shouldn't you already know this?
  • cultur3b0mb, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1This principal is from author and designer Robin William's (no, not him) book The Non-Designer's Design Book!!!!!
  • jonathono2000, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2And no reference to the original author (no its not that Robin Williams) I smell plagiarism.

    http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu4s9Xq9GR08Bf.dXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTExbTV0dDR1BHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkAwRsA1dTMQ--/SIG=130upo00d/EXP=1185984445/**http%3a//www.amazon.com/Non-Designers-Design-Book-Robin-Williams/dp/1566091594
  • PradaPete, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0I for one welcome our CRAP design overlords. They are crab people
  • blanktarget, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Or you could K.I.S.S. your C.R.A.P.

    I learned all these in a design class like 15 years ago.
  • rob357, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0confessions of a CRAP artist
  • MariusVW, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1This is INFANTILE. (Innocuous Nauseating Freaking Acronyms kNown To Interest Large Eggheads)

    (I hate it when first they choose the acronym and then try and fit words to it.)

    Hmm... I hate acronyms period. Especially TLAs... (Three Letter Acronyms) Grr...
    • AvengeX, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I hate TLAs. No, really, I hate Text Link Ads. Bastards.
  • Supergeek, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0These are ridiculously obvious recommendations. "Don't use all caps, or use excessive bold and italics." Duh. What the writer calls "repetition" is really "consistency." He needs to use a dictionary, and write a useful article. This article is terrible.
  • rossbrown, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Two things to keep in mind while designing:
    KISS CRAP
  • illinst1, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0You know what really helped me with my design? Four years of design school.

    But if this article works for you, by all means, good on you.
  • britno03, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0They tought this in design school. It's a great way for you to remember the basic techniques that make a design, a GOOD design.
  • AvengeX, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1...but will it blend?
  • dandonia, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I was going to say this article is CRAP but i dont want noone thinking thats me saying the article has style. What a pile of ...t!

    I love that half way through the article that says repatition is key there is an advert which breaks the whole document up.
  • JesseJ, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Good principals, but why the hell was the left margin so small and the right margin so damn wide on that page?
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