Design Principles + How To Use Them in Your Life

(Old Post— 2022)

Design principles and how to use them to create your life…

Everyone uses design or enjoys the benefits of it. If you own any electronic devices or love botanical gardens, you enjoy design. Design is everywhere, After all, it is how we create things in this world. There are a couple principles that all design has. I am going to break it down and apply it to so you can use them in your everyday life. In order to do this, you will have to look at your life a practically and with an objective lens, which can be a difficult to do. If you just, get someone to help you.

Principle #1: Emphasis

Emphasis will be your set of values and priorities. What is your focus point in life? We all have one even if we are unaware of it or trying to run from it. The filling of my theoretical life pie will always be growth, even when I try to run from it. It is what I end up building my life around no matter the area. Family, work, love, you name it. If I cannot grow, or others aren’t, then my life is missing that emphasis that gives me meaning. 

Purpose and meaning can change, don’t get too stuck on it if you feel you are wandering aimlessly. Sometimes this is necessary and sometimes that is your purpose. Majority of the times we pick consciously what we want our purpose to be. It is not something that just falls on our lap. It can be by chance that it manifests, but really, it can happen in multiple ways. Regardless, pick an emphasis in your design that gives you meaning of some sort. If it doesn’t make you feel extremely good, toss it.

Principle #2: Balance and alignment

Balance and alignment! This one can sort of speak for itself. A really lovely exercise to achieve balance in your life is to split your life into categories and assess what is missing for each. What needs to be fixed up, given more time, cut short, or simply tossed? 

Balance is really simple when you get the hang of it. The complex part is that balance is always changing. I use the seasons as an example. There will be cycles of more sun, more rain, snow if you are that person, or you can be a tropical area that only changes twice a year. There will be heat and coldness, more on some seasons than others. Things will grow and sprout at certain times and die as they must on others. Basically, it will all change through time. 

Balance is something that has to be reassessed based on how you are feeling. This is alignment. Alignment is when you feel your best; when you cannot feel more meaningful and at peace with what your life looks like. Once you have everything balanced, alignment typically tends to follow and vice-versa. Check in with yourself periodically to make sure your life looks in balance (whatever that means to you in that moment). Check the alignment by seeing if it feels good to you the way your life is looking. 

Principle #3: Contrast

What makes you different? In design, contrast is what draws your eye because it is a little bit different than everything is else. Contrast cannot be overdone, because a design will lose its meaning if there is too much contrast. In your life, what causes contrast? What makes you pop? Where is the boldness in you?

These questions are meaningful because your life cannot be a simple boring blob to you. If you don’t see a pop, then there is definitely something missing. I add this principle with balance. There is no balance without contrast. You need to find what is worth it for you to say “fuck it, I want to be a little weird here.”

I have a system of beliefs that makes me weird, it makes me pop, it is the contrast to the rest of my life. I love growth and I challenge people into thinking differently. It is a contrast because the rest of my life does not go that way. Pick yours wisely.

Principle #4: Repetition and proportion

These are two separate principles that I put together. What patterns are you seeing around you of behavior, people, and places? How significant are they in your life? Do you like how much they show up and the sizes in which they come? I ask this because if you are in an environment that does not support your wellbeing, you cannot make it the biggest or most repetitive part of your life.

We need to minimize in repetition and proportion the things we do not like. The more attention we give it, the more they spring to life. If you do not like your job, find a way to stop it's repetition. Make it part time and find a more beautiful and productive way to spend your time that can still give you what you need. If your partner takes too much of your space, minimize the proportion, don’t put them front and center.

You need to play with this because no one knows your needs and wants as intimately as you. Just remember that what you have in repetition grows, and the bigger or smaller something is, the more attention it will draw. Some things do not deserve the attention we give them, so it is time to take that luxury away. Assess and make adjustments. This can work with physical spaces and people as much as it can work with abstract spaces such as your mind and how you talk to yourself, your feelings, and your values.