Carl Roose

Good design is about simplicity.

Many people have the mistaken notion that the job of a graphic or web designer is to decorate, to create personality or style, to "jazz things up". On our best days, we do just the opposite. We're thinkers first, distilling an idea and trimming out the parts that don't matter, deciding what's a headline, what's fine print, and, perhaps most importantly, what can be left out altogether. Saints of omission.

I strive for the simple and tend toward the human. I prefer a good idea first, good writing second; simple, clear design third; and "flash" (or "style", or "pizzazz") last. Working the other direction takes so much more time and energy that it's not worth it.

Accordingly, I spend much more time asking questions and writing (and asking more questions and rewriting) than I do browsing last week's hottest fonts. No slickly written copy or dazzling Photoshop effect can substitute for a solid concept and sensible choices that flow from it.

I believe that good web sites are written more than they're designed, and that good design in general involves knowing what to leave out as well as what to include.

When things are going according to plan, you can see these beliefs come through in my work.