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Being a part of a design team can be both challenging and rewarding, but it can also be a source of stress and burnout. That's why it's essential to have a source of inspiration and motivation to keep the team's spirits high and to keep them motivated to create their best work.

In this blog, we'll share some of our favorite motivational quotes that have been specifically chosen to inspire and motivate design teams. These quotes come from some of the most successful and respected figures in the design industry, such as Steve Jobs, Paul Rand, and Paula Scher. They cover a wide range of topics, from the importance of creativity and experimentation to the power of teamwork and perseverance.

Whether you're a designer, art director, or a member of a design team, these quotes are sure to provide you with the inspiration and motivation you need to stay focused and motivated in your work. They can also be used as a reminder to keep pushing the boundaries and not be afraid of trying something new.

We hope you find these quotes as inspirational and motivating as we do. Remember, design is not just about creating something that looks good, but something that solves problems, so stay inspired and motivated to solve more problems.

So we’ve provided this list of over 100 inspirational quotes to help get you where you need to go.

69 Inspirational and Motivational Quotes for Design Team

1. “Design is in everything we make, but it’s also between those things. It’s a mix of craft, science, storytelling, propaganda, and philosophy.” – Erik Adigard

2. “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” – Steve Jobs, 00

3. Have no fear of perfection — you’ll never reach it." — Salvador Dali, artist

4. "Design is intelligence made visible." — Alina Wheeler, author

5. "Everything is designed. Few things are designed well." — Brian Reed, front-end developer and musician

6. "You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." — Maya Angelou, author, poet, civil rights activist

7. "Design adds value faster than it adds costs." — Joel Spolsky, web programmer, writer, and creator of Trello

8. "The public is more familiar with bad design than good design. It is, in effect, conditioned to prefer bad design, because that is what it lives with. The new becomes threatening, the old

9. "Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works." — Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, Inc.

10. "The more I deal with the work as something that is my own, as something that is personal, the more successful it is." — Marian Bantjes, designer and author

11. "Design is not a single object or dimension. Design is messy and complex." — Natasha Jen, designer and educator

12. "Design is the intermediary between information and understanding." — Hans Hoffman, artist and teacher

13. "A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French writer and poet

14. "Design is a formal response to a strategic question." — Mariona Lopez, business owner

"Styles come and go. Good design is a language, not a style." — Massimo Vignelli, Italian designer

15. "The alternative to good design is always bad design. There is no such thing as no design." — Adam Judge, author

16. "Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that's why it is so complicated." — Paul Rand, graphic designer

17. "It's through mistakes that you actually can grow. You have to get bad in order to get good." — Paula Scher, graphic designer and painter

18. "Good design is good business." — Thomas Watson Jr., businessman, second president of IBM

19. "Accessible design is good design." — Steve Ballmer, American businessman and former CEO of Microsoft

20. "Where you innovate, how you innovate, and what you innovate are design problems." — Tim Brown, CEO and president of IDEO

21. "I strive for two things in design: simplicity and clarity. Great design is born of those two things." — Lindo Leader, graphic designer and creator of the FedEx logo

22. "Design is as much an act of spacing as an act of marking." — Ellen Lupton, designer and educator

23. "Designers are meant to be loved, not to be understood." — Margaret Oscar, designer

24. "Make it simple, but significant." — Don Draper, fictional character on Mad Men

25. "Don’t bunt. Aim out of the ballpark. Aim for the company of immortals." — David Ogilvy, advertising tycoon, known as the "Father of Advertising"

26. "Every great design begins with an even better story." — Lorinda Mamo, designer

27. "The function of design is letting design function." — Micha Commeren, designer

28. “Good design is good business.” – Thomas J. Watson Jr.

29. “The only important thing about design is how it relates to people.” – Victor Papanek

30. “A design isn’t finished until somebody is using it.” – Brenda Laurel

31. “You are what you are seen to be.- Erik Spiekermann

32. “To say that something is designed means it has intentions that go beyond its function. Otherwise it’s just planning.” – Ayse Birsel

33. “A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” – Antoine de Saint Exupéry

34. “Truly elegant design incorporates top-notch functionality into a simple, uncluttered form.” – David Lewis

35. “Create your own visual style… let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others.” – Orson Welles

36. “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” – Pablo Picasso

37. “Good art inspires; Good design motivates.” – Otl Aicher

38. “Color is a creative element, not a trimming.” – Piet Zwart

39. “Sometimes you can draw more inspiration from the people who don’t believe in you, then from the ones who do.” – William Childs

40. “I’m convinced that without bad design, the world would be a far less stimulating place; we would have nothing to marvel over and nothing to be nostalgic about.” – Carrie Philips

41. “The definition of an expert is someone who knows what not to do.” – Charles Willson

42. “Practice safe design: Use a concept.” – Petrula Vrontikis

43. “Just because something looks good doesn’t mean it’s useful. And just because something is useful does not make it beautiful.” – Joshua Brewer

44. “Good design goes to heaven; bad design goes everywhere.” – Mieke Gerritzen

45. “When you eliminate quality as a requirement, the entire design process becomes a whole lot easier.” – Jared M. Spool

46. “If you’re more susceptible to interruption, you do more out of the box thinking.” – Don Norman

47. “By far the dominant reason for not releasing sooner was a reluctance to trade the dream of success for the reality of feedback.” – Kent Beck

48. “You can have an art experience in front of a Rembrandt… or in front of a piece of graphic design.” – Stefan Sagmeister

49. “I don’t think that design needs theory, but I think designers need theory.” – Johanna Drucker

50. “Design is the contrast of the core of limitations therefore there are no boundaries. It is simply an interpretation of creativity.” – Jenaiha Woods

51. “Don’t worry about people stealing your design work. Worry about the day they stop.” – Jeffrey Zeldman

52. “Design is creativity with strategy.” – Rob Curedale

53. “ There ain’t no rules around here. We’re trying to accomplish something.” – Thomas Edison

54. “Design is an opportunity to continue telling the story, not just to sum everything up.” – Tate Linden

55. “Designers have a dual duty; contractually to their clients and morally to the later users and recipients of their work.” – Hans Hger

56. “Imitation may be the “sincerest form of plagiarism,” but it is also the mark of an inferior person.” – David Ogilvy

57. “Art does not reproduce what we see; rather, it makes us see.” – Paul Klee

58. “Some designers create things to show you what they did. I design things to tell you what I solved. – Brian Yerkes

59. “The quality of any creative endeavor tends to approach the level of taste of whoever is in charge.” – John Gruber

60. “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci

61. “The secret of joy in work is contained in one word: excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.” – Pearl S. Buck

62. “The world always seems brighter when you’ve just made something that wasn’t there before.” – Neil Gaiman

63. “Designing a product is designing a relationship.” – Steve Rogers

64. “Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.” – Pablo Picasso

65. “If you do what you always did, you will get what you always got.” – Albert Einstein

66. “Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed

67. “There is no such thing as information overload, just bad design. If something is cluttered and/or confusing, fix your design.” – Edward Tufte

68. “Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions.” – Pablo Picasso

69. "Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future." — Robert L. Peters, designer and author

Key takeaways

Being part of a design team can be both challenging and rewarding, but it can also be a source of stress and burnout. To stay motivated and inspired, it's essential to surround ourselves with motivational quotes that can serve as a source of encouragement and reminder to keep pushing the boundaries and not be afraid of trying something new.

We hope that you've enjoyed reading through our collection of motivational quotes for design teams and that they've provided you with some inspiration to help you stay motivated and focused in your work. Remember that design is not just about creating something that looks good but something that solves problems, so stay inspired and motivated to solve more problems with your team.

Design is not just about the final outcome but about the process that lead to it, as much as it's about the team effort, Communication and collaboration in design teams are key. Don't forget that, and take these quotes as a reminder that you are not alone, and that the greats have gone through similar struggles, yet they have achieved their goals.

So, stay inspired, stay motivated, and never give up on your design dreams!

Guest Contributor

We often come across some fantastic writers who prefer to publish their writings on our blogs but prefer to stay anonymous. We dedicate this section to all superheroes who go the extra mile for us.