Finding Design Inspiration: 45 Quotes from Designers, Artists, & Creative Professionals

by Kelsey Arrington on Feb 07, 2022

Designers, artists and creative professionals are often tasked with creating innovative projects, building campaigns and conceptualizing ideas. But, have you ever wondered where they find inspiration to create the world around us? Think about it for a moment. There are so many possible sources of inspiration.

Where do you find inspiration?

Every creative pro has their own process when it comes to finding inspiring moments. Some seek it out; others experience inspiration spontaneously. Some design professionals thrive in the hustle and bustle of city scenes, while other creatives find life’s quieter moments to be more thought-provoking. Everyone is different. However, staying inspired as one innovates is imperative to every creative industry.

Have you found yourself in a creative rut? Just need a bit of design inspiration? Authentic Jobs can help! In this post, we’ve compiled 45 quotes from designers, artists and creative pros like yourself! So, keep reading.

Design Inspiration is Everywhere.

1. “The word ‘design’ is everything and nothing. The design and the product itself are inseparable.” – Jony Ive, Industrial and Product Designer
   
   
2. “Everything is designed. Few things are designed well.” – Brian Reed, UX Designer, Front End Developer and Musician
   
   
3. “Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determind the future.” – Robert L. Peters, Graphic Designer and Educator
   
   
4. “Design adds value faster than it adds costs.” – Joel Spolsky, Web Programmer and creator of Trello
   
   
5. “Designers are meant to be loved, not to be understood.” – Margaret Oscar, Designer
   
   
6. “Everything is design. Everything!” – Paul Rand, Art Director and Graphic Designer
   
   
7. “Design is everywhere. From the dress you’re wearing to the smartphone you’re holding, it’s design.” – Samara Ginige, Designer and Developer
   
   
8. “Bold simplicity is the keynote to good design.” – Sailor Jerry, Tattoo Artist
   
   
9. “Character design, like story design, requires a hook to grab the reader’s attention.” – Ted Naifeh, Illustrator and Comic Book Artist
   
   
10. “Accessible design is good design.” – Steve Ballmer Businessman and former Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft

11. “How do I explain what I do at a party? The short version is that I say I humanize technology.” – Fred Beecher, Director of UX at The Nerdery
    
    
12. “Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.” – Paul Rand, Art Director and Graphic Designer
    
    
13. “Every great design begins with an even better story.” – Lorinda Mamo, Designer and Creative Director
    
    
14. “An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.” – Dr. Edwin Land, Physicist, Scientist and Inventor of the Polaroid Camera
    
    
15. “Graphic design will change the world right after rock and roll does.” – David Carson, Art Director, Designer and Surfer
    
    
16. “I don’t need an alarm clock. My ideas wake me.” – Ray Bradbury, Science Fiction, Horror and Mystery Fiction Author
    
    
17. “There is only one type of designer – the type that cares about type.” – Rohan Nanavati, Art Director
    
18. “When people say, ‘I don’t get art’…that means art is working.” – John Maeda, Designer, Computer Scientist and Author
    
    
19. “Digital design is like painting, except the paint never dries.” – Neville Brody, Graphic Designer
    
    
20. “I want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares, as opposed to ugly things. That’s my intent.” – Saul Bass, Graphic Designer and Filmmaker
    
    

21. “My argument is that all graphic designers hold high levels of responsibility in society. We take invisible ideas and make them tangible. That’s our job.” – Debbie Millman, Writer, Artists, Brand Consultant and Radio Show Host
    
    
22. “An image can only be one element in constructing a sequence of understanding.” – Germano Facetti, Graphic Designer
    
    
23. “Design brings content into focus; design makes function visible.” – Jennifer Morla, President and Creative Director of Morla Design
    
    
24. “Design isn’t crafting a beautiful, textured button with breathtaking animation. It’s figuring out if there’s a way to get rid of the button altogether.” – Edward Tufte, American Statistician and Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Statistics, and Computer Science at Yale University
    
    
25. “Marketing without design is lifeless, and design without marketing is mute.” – Von Glitschka, Illustrative Designer
    
    
26. “A user interface is well-designed when the program behaves exactly how the user thought it would.” – Joel Spolsky, Software Engineer and Writer
    
    
27. “If you find an element of your interface requires instructions, redesign it.” – Dan Rubin, Designer, Photographer, and Creative Director
    
    
28. “Attention to detail can’t be (and never is) added later. It’s an entire development philosophy, methodology, and culture.” – Marco Arment, iOS Developer, Podcaster and Technology Writer
    
    
29. “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, Communication and Experience Designer
    
    
30. “Good design is obvious. Great design is transparent.” – Joe Sparano, Designer and Educator
    
    

31. “The next big thing is the one that makes the last big thing usable.” – Blake Ross, Software Engineer
    
    
32. “I’ve never had a problem with a dumb client. There is no such thing as a bad client. Part of our job is to do good work and get the client to accept it.” – Bob Gill, illustrator and Graphic Designer
    
    
33. “I prefer drawing to talking. Drawing is faster, and leaves less room for lies.” – L Corbusier, Architect, Urban Planner and Designer
    
    
34. “It’s through mistakes that you actually can grow. You have to get bad in order to get good.” – Paula Scher, Designer and Partner at Pentagram
    
    
35. “In order to design your product well for them, you need to understand how they’ll use it and design to support that behavior.” – Leisa Reichelt, Head of Research and Insights at Atlassian
    
    
36. “Testing with one user early in the project is better than testing with 50 near the end.” – Steve Krug, Usability and User Experience (UX) Expert
    
    
37. “If you can properly define the problem, then you’ve already defined the solution as well.” – Chip Kidd, Art Director and Book Cover Designer
    
    
38. “What the visionaries had in common was a particular love of craft and a desire to play.” – Petrula Vrontikis, Designer, Educator and Board Member at the American Institute of Graphic Arts
    
    
39. “Good design is all about making other designers feel like idiots because that idea wasn’t theirs.” – Frank Chimero, Brand Designer and Collage Artist
    
    
40. “Art is never finished, only abandoned.” – Leonardo da Vinci, Artist and Inventor
    
    
41. “Want your users to fall in love with your designs? Fall in love with your users.” – Dana Chisnell, American Public Interest Technologist, Civic Designer and Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government
    
    
42. “Like all forms of design, visual design is about problem-solving, not about personal preference or unsupported opinion.” – Bob Baxley, Design Executive, Advisor and Mentor
    
    
43. “Bad design shouts at you. Good design is the silent seller.” – Shane Meendering, Designer
    
44. “Styles come and go. Good design is a language, not a style.” – Massimo Vignelli, Packaging and Furniture Designer
    
    
45. “Designers actually can change the world for the better by making the complicated simle and finding beauty in truth.” – Michael Beirut, Graphic Designer, Design Critic, Educator and partner at Pentagram