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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!
