Good Design
(Adapted from Hutton, B 2024)
Notions of good design are personal, contextual and political. Students of VCE Visual Communication Design are encouraged to draw from both universal and culturally specific understandings, together with personal experiences of good design, to formulate their own conceptions, and use these criteria to guide their design practice.
​
References to ‘good design’ frequently accompany best-practice design guidelines, policies, principles of practice and criteria for design competitions, such as Good Design Australia's Good Design Award, industrial designer Dieter Rams’ Ten Principles for Good Design, and the Good Design series by the Victorian Government Architect (VCAA, 2024)
​
What is good design?
Good design comes in many forms and is defined by much more than how something looks. It starts from refining the purpose and aspiration of a project, improves how it works, creates additional benefits and elevates how people feel and behave in the final outcome. Good design creates inspiring places and greater lasting financial value. And of course, good design also looks and feels good.
Why good design is important?
Good design is critical in creating high-quality buildings and public places that are:
-
fit for purpose and adaptable to changing needs
-
engaging and create a strong sense of place
-
able to engender civic pride and wellbeing in the community
-
inclusive, culturally rich and diverse
-
sustainable environmentally, economically and socially
-
an enduring legacy in the built environment
(Hamer Hall Redevelopment, Architect: ARM Architecture, Victorian Government Architect, 2024)
(Geelong Library and Heritage Centre, Architect: ARM Architecture, Victorian Government Architect, 2024)
If you think good design is expensive, you should look at the real cost of bad design.
Dr Ralf Speth CEO, Jaguar
(Australian Garden Cranbourne, Landscape Architect: TCL, Victorian Government Architect, 2024)
Good design is
Inspiring
Good design embeds the very essence of a project into a narrative and vision. A thorough interrogation of a project’s purpose, objectives and influencing factors establishes a vision which is essential to elevate a project beyond its primary purpose and deliver an inspiring addition to the built environment.
Contextual
Good design is informed by its location and responds to site-specific environmental, social and cultural conditions. Appropriate contextual relationships with regard to building scale, form, mass and materiality of all elements create a valuable addition to a place.
Functional
Good design meets the requirements of a building or place through efficient spatial arrangements which enhance convenience, amenity and opportunities for future adaptability. A good design will deliver a concept that fully integrates functional requirements and explores synergies with the project vision to deliver value beyond primary technical needs.
Valuable
Good design marries aesthetics and functionality at the inception of a project, which is fundamental in reducing the full life-cycle costs of a project. Good design is essential in the value creation of a place.
Sustainable
Good design respects our environment and resources by embedding efficiency, enhancing local ecology and creating a durable long-term built legacy.
Enjoyable
Good design increases amenity through creating healthy and safe places that are enjoyable at all times of the day, fosters community involvement and engenders community pride. Inclusive and equitable environments contribute to broader positive social and economic outcomes for all users.
Enduring
Through the synthesis of vision and function, good design embeds lasting value into our built environment. Good design is essential in place-making which promotes community pride, providing a truly enduring legacy which will continue to serve, inspire and delight.