Fractal Interests

Principles

Mental models and new ways to think.

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Dieter Rams

  1. Good design is innovative

  2. Good design makes a product useful

  3. Good design is aesthetic

  4. Good design makes a product understandable

  5. Good design is unobtrusive

  6. Good design is honest

  7. Good design is long lasting

  8. Good design is thorough down to the last detail

  9. Good design is environmentally friendly

  10. Good design is as little design as possible

Gestalt

  1. No object is perceived in isolation

  2. Objects are always perceived as simply as possible

  3. Sections that are the shortest distance apart are perceived as belonging together

  4. Objects similar to each other are perceived as one unit

  5. Incomplete figures are seen as coherent

  6. Elements that move in a common direction are perceived as one unit

  7. Elements linked spatially or chronologically are perceived as one unit

  8. Symmetrical elements are perceived as a unit

  9. The object simpler in form becomes the figure, the object with the more complex form becomes the ground

Grice’s Maxims

  1. Maxim of Quantity: Give as much information as required, and no more

  2. Maxim of Quality: Tell the truth

  3. Maxim of Relation: Be relevant

  4. Maxim of Manner: Be clear in what you’re saying

S. H. Schwartz Universal Values

  1. Self-direction: independent thought and action–choosing, creating, exploring

  2. Stimulation: excitement, novelty, and challenge in life, exciting life

  3. Hedonism: pleasure; enjoying life

  4. Achievement: personal success through demonstrating competence according to social standards

  5. Power: social status and prestige, control or dominance over people and resources

  6. Security: safety, harmony, and stability of society, of relationships, and of self

  7. Conformity: self-discipline; obedience, restraint of actions

  8. Tradition: respect, commitment, and acceptance of the customs and ideas that one’s culture or religion provides

  9. Benevolence: preserving and enhancing the welfare of those with whom one is in frequent personal contact (the ‘in-group’)

  10. Universalism: understanding, appreciation, tolerance, and protection for the welfare of all people and for nature

David Olgivy

  1. Give the facts, and give them early

  2. Be truthful

  3. Be helpful

  4. Have a big idea

  5. Don’t be boring

  6. Understand your customer

  7. Stay true to your brand

Xerox

  1. Visions not goals

  2. Fund people not projects

  3. Problem finding — not just problem solving

  4. Milestones not deadlines

  5. It’s baseball not golf — Not getting a hit is not failure but the overhead for getting hits.

Ray Dalio

  1. Know your goals and run after them

  2. Encounter the problems and don’t tolerate them

  3. Diagnose the problems, don’t rush into solutions

  4. Design a plan to eliminate the problems

  5. Execute those designs

Steve Jobs

  1. Do what you love

  2. Put a dent in the universe

  3. Kick start your brain

  4. Sell dreams, not products

  5. Say no to 1,000 things

  6. Create insanely great experiences

  7. Master the message

Design

  1. Unity

  2. Balance

  3. Hierarchy

  4. Scale

  5. Emphasis

  6. Contrast

Disney

  1. Squash and stretch

  2. Anticipation

  3. Staging

  4. Straight ahead actions and pose to pose

  5. Follow through and overlapping

  6. Slow in and slow out

  7. Arc

  8. Secondary action

  9. Timing

  10. Exaggeration

  11. Solid drawing

  12. Appeal

Fredrick Lewis Donaldson Seven Social Sins

  1. Wealth without work

  2. Pleasure without conscience

  3. Knowledge without character

  4. Commerce without morality

  5. Science without humanity

  6. Religion without sacrifice

  7. Politics without principle

Judge each day not by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant.