A Guide To Timeless Design

Timeless. It's a word every practicing creative hears throughout the years. Throughout school, on YouTube product reviews, from our Creative Directors. It carries such power. The word evokes imagery of our favorite products, favorite companies and conjures emotion. As creatives, of all disciplines, we get asked to create that feeling for our customers. Create something that will push the boundaries but also be accepted. Make it familiar and new at the same time. Our moodboards are brimming with Behance projects, unique CMF combinations, the most subtle design features, all to grasp at the pieces we think will build up into a timeless design. Think of the products that inspire you. What is it about them? When we see something and we think ‘timeless’, where is that coming from? What does it mean and more importantly, how do we achieve it? The following is what I've seen over the years and my insights on the process.

Firstly, let's do our due diligence. Let's build an understanding of what timeless design actually is. Often, I hear people referring to a standalone product as having a timeless design. For me, that misses the mark. So then what is it? Truly timeless design is an iterative process not a singular design. It's an act that is practiced. When we talk about something timeless, we often don’t point to individual products despite it seeming that way. That’s why despite our best efforts, those “inspiration” folders we all have, tend to fall short. Piecing together moments or features from things relevant to the now don’t lead to a lasting product. Think about it, Apple has the iPhone, Rolls Royce has the Continental, Rolex- the Submariner, and of course, the holy grail, Dieter Rams’ contributions to Braun products. Those aren’t just single products. They are the visible part of an iceberg. The mass of which are the principles, learnings and priorities of something beyond the singular product itself. These products come from philosophies that birth products. Line up all the iPhones to date and stare at them. How much do they change every year? 5%? Maybe 10%? There is a reason for that. Apple (and others) understand that the power is in depth. Not in making lateral design movements to keep up with trends every year. Trying different flavors and directions may be necessary in the beginning to explore who you are, but when the direction is found, the commitment to realizing a product’s potential and to continue removing what isn’t necessary is what it means to go deep on a design.

Now, most of us want to go deep, in fact we can and do. We don’t have a problem with that, but striving for depth in design is only part of the story. The catch with timeless design is it doesn’t just come from design. It comes from an organization wide commitment and alignment. Yes, this is the secret, read it again. Timeless design takes the consideration and, most importantly, the cooperation of many other departments, not just product design. Everyone must be on board. Tell me, how many times have you heard: “We love this idea, but can we make it half the size for injection molding costs?” or “This is a great animation but can’t the whole page just load instantly?” or “Have you seen what company X is doing? Can we do something like that?”. Many times, I’m sure. This isn’t because your design isn’t hitting hard enough (although it may not be). This is typically because the values across the organization’s teams are misaligned. Is the priority to minimize price of the mold at all costs? Is the priority to increase download speed of a webpage at all costs? What about keeping up with trends? The priority is likely none of these in isolation. Yet, when there is misalignment, individual teams’ function with limited perspective and believe these are the priorities. If optimization only happens around the individual goals of each respective team, then we run into issues. When it is all said and done, solutions will be judged on different scales from each different team causing subjective, or biased, opinion (typically from the highest source) to drive a final decision.

When engineering, marketing, developers, or even teammates shoot down your design idea for something more in alignment with their goals, it's not them being blind or “not seeing the vision”. This resistance is due to a lack of alignment regarding what the actual priority is. Neither one of the team's absolutisms are the priority. However, making these teams’ service something greater, agreed upon by the organization, is the priority. Without an ideal to aim for that is agreed upon by the brand, everyone’s own separate discipline or idea becomes their champion. This isn’t to say that everyone should optimize for whatever the product design team puts forth. As we know, design can also put undue importance on its own offerings. Our goal, as pieces of an organization, should be to understand where each team is constrained and maximize within those constraints to serve something greater.

So how do we do that? What can we do to encourage solutions and overcome these blockages? It starts with building trust in the troops and aligning efforts. Be strict about defining with your organization what its priorities are. What I am saying is not easily done. This takes serious effort and openness from your organization, but if done successfully, it is always worth the effort.

Understanding. Who is the company you’re working for and what are their primary objectives? Talk with your creative director, the development lead, however high up you can get and understand on a fundamental level what the intention, spirit and purpose of the brand is. Seek to know these on an intimate level. And what do we hope to gain from this inquiry? Alignment of the principles that guide decisions. Where are the team leads aligned and where are they misaligned? The goal is to make sure we all want the same thing.

Accountability. Encourage the people around you to base their design & business decisions off the principles we’re all aligned to. Respect and cherish these principles. “You’ve stated that the priority for this project is X, does this decision support that?” or “Our company, as you’ve said, stands for Y. Does changing this design feature support that?” This is what having a strong brand is about. These values allow for a consistent set of driving factors to be present throughout the product development process. It creates a North Star for an organization to shoot for in every move, including design. This is what creates timeless design.

Showing. Make sure people see the results. We’re visual creatures and often gain a huge feeling of motivation from seeing the progress. Have the humility and skill to be able to illustrate the bigger picture and show how much more cohesive as a company you all can be when you’re aligned. A razor sharp Keynote with key stakeholders should do the trick.

Striving for this level of integration within an organization (especially depending on the size) can be a huge effort. You may decide that the effort isn’t worth it to you, I understand. Even though I am critical about what it takes to achieve timeless design, I am an optimist and believe beautiful horizons are ahead for us making the effort. Now more than ever organizations are willing and open to fostering this sort of team wide alignment. Just like people, each company is unique with a distinctive set of principles guiding them (whether they’re conscious of it or not). Becoming conscious of these principles and imbuing them through the design and business decision process is what makes an organization truly memorable. Just like someone can never be you no matter how much they try, a company or team can never be another, no matter how much they imitate. Yet, inevitably, we see companies try time and time again. You should have no trouble thinking of an example. When the company with an identity crisis is excited about the new trend, you’ll see them abandon whatever they stood for previously and move laterally to what is currently popular. Seek to work at a company that values processes, principles, and consistency. Aim for a place that, if they aren’t already, show interest in fostering strong principles to guide their actions and align their teams. Look for strong brands interested in timeless design.