What is Classic Design?

Classic Design is a functional set of aesthetic principles that delivers value to the client. Classic Design not only projects solid value in what it represents, it communicates without getting in its own way.

It puts you at ease without calling attention to its own merits. It communicates with an excellence that appears effortless. It wears fashions that are simple but rich.

On occasion a little more than this is needed to reach an audience. In such cases, Classic Design draws on echoes of the past to assure the buyer that quality has not been forgotten in the present.

This principle extends to the language used. As our population ages, it is well to reconsider the adage "There's one born every minute." What is more to our purpose is that now there is one maturing every minute. The fact that books with erudite vocabularies are becoming best-sellers should alert us that our audience has grown more sophisticated and we should avoid talking down.

At the same time, because people are entering our audience from many different first languages, Classic Design speaks its English in traditional grammar presented in recognizable visual structures. Avoid the trendy; be timeless.

Visual sophistication is not the same as verbal erudition. Because our population base is not only aging but including people from many nationalities we cannot expect all audiences to bring the same cultural/visual interpretation equipment to our visual puzzle.

Therefore, Classic Design keeps visual relationships simple. The picture supports the words; it does not replace them. While a picture can command initial attention and give a great deal of information, it must gracefully yield to the words to define what the image means. The picture can be used as a pure-design element, but the audience must not be left to wonder what we were thinking, or where to look for meaning.

Finally, Classic Design uses traditional, recognizable typography to help the reader feel at home and facilitate legibility. This does not mean all-serif or all-Helvetica. It allows each type style the dignity its creator gave it.