Universal Design

I am a great believer in universal design.  The design principles for all design is the same.  Look for these in graphic design, furniture, industrial design, interior design, architecture and landscape architecture.  Know design.  Continue to learn design for your full career and look towards all creative industries for inspiration.  I try to follow this simple rule of mine.

Take the new EQ3 catalogue I was recently flipping through.  This couch drew my eye.

Along with the clean lines which is a person favourite, it made me think about proportions.  What works?  As always there's the golden rule of thirds that is a good one.  It's a quick sketch but here's a breakdown of the some of the lines that drew my eye.  

I'm not even going to touch the symmetry of the couch.  For another day.  But let's take those lines and transform them into something that landscape architects will design.  A bench.  Here's a quick sketch of a bench that I've seen around.  I've also seen this design as a coffee table.

 Clean lines broken down into thirds to make a clean good looking bench.  The bench could be even closer to the couch if the arms were pulled to edge and maybe a back was added.

Find these universal design principles everywhere.  It will make a difference in how you look at design.