Good Design is Innovative

In a previous post I discussed my philosophy of design. This is the second out of eleven articles discussing these in further detail.

When we think of innovation we think of creative solutions never seen before, but solve a problem uniquely. The dictionary describes innovation as "the act of introducing something new."

But how do you bring about something never seen before? Ideas. Thinking. Willingness to experiment. Willingness to make a mistake.

Design is both a science and an art. It is rooted in sound principles of structure and communication. But it is also rooted in a mysterious process of bringing forth something unique.

Should design be innovative to be considered good? I am not sure innovation can be entirely avoided because each designer and message is unique. However, it is possible to create design that lacks good innovation, such as in plagiarism. And it is possible to create something very innovative but very ugly, like the random placement of elements. So innovation is simply the difference between an acceptable design and great design when sound principles of design are utilized.