Good Design Isn't About Aesthetics, it's about Decisions
Style vs. Function
At a certain point in my graphic design journey it became clear to me that the work I produce isn’t meant to be solely aesthetic. That didn’t stop me from coming into it with that idea in my head however. For a while, if something looked clean, modern, and cohesive, I considered it successful. I remember one project in particular where I was proud of the color palette and typography I chose. It looked polished and cool. But when it came time for critique, I couldn’t explain why I made half of my choices. When someone asked why I used a certain typeface or why the layout was structured the way it was, my honest answer was: “I just thought it looked good.” That was the moment I realized that looking good isn’t the same as working well.
The Aesthetic Trap
Early on, I definitely fell into what I think of now as the aesthetic trap. Some typefaces and effects sometimes just speak to you and make you want to use them as much as possible. This happened to me, I started out wanting to create with my favorite typefaces and effects to make it my style or my signature. But I realized those aren't really the things you mess with in order to create your style. Social media makes it easy to believe that design is mostly about style. When you scroll around on platforms like Instagram or Pinterest, you mostly see finished pieces with no explanation behind them. It can make design feel like decoration instead of problem-solving.
But the more critiques I sat through, the more I understood that every choice needs a reason. In The Design of Everyday Things, Don Norman talks about how design should make things understandable and usable, not just attractive. He explains that when design fails, it’s often because it prioritizes appearance over clarity (Norman, 2013). That idea has been rattling around in my head. If someone can’t navigate what I designed, or if the message gets lost, then it doesn’t matter how good it looks.
Design is Decision Making
I started noticing how much communication happens before anyone reads a single word. Typography sets the tone. A bold sans-serif can feel confident and direct, while a serif might feel more traditional or formal. Spacing controls hierarchy. If everything is close together, nothing feels important. Color shapes emotion and can even tell viewers how to feel. Sometimes even small adjustments in contrast to something can change how a design feels. In Thinking with Type, Ellen Lupton emphasizes that typography isn’t just about style but about structure and clarity (Lupton, 2010). Once I started seeing type as a system instead of a decoration, my process and work changed.
One of the biggest shifts for me was learning to ask myself better questions, I learned to do this in one of my classes. Why this font? Why this alignment? Why this amount of space? If I can’t answer those questions, I probably haven’t made a strong decision yet. Now that doesn’t mean I ignore aesthetics now. I still care a lot about how something looks. But I try to let the function lead and the visuals support it.
I’m still learning. I still catch myself choosing something because it feels cool in the moment. But now I go back and test it. I ask myself, does it help the user? Does it clarify the message? Or is it just filling space? The projects I’m most proud of aren’t the flashiest ones. They’re the ones where every element has a purpose.
Good design isn’t just about making something look cool. It’s about making decisions that solve a problem. When the decisions are strong, the aesthetics will fall into place on their own.
