Timeless Design

February 04, 2004 | View Comments (13) | Category: Design

Summary: What is timeless design and two sites that I find are timeless in my eyes.

On the web it is difficult to design a site that the majority of your audience would consider to be beautiful. I am sure there are plenty of sites in the Vault where people do not agree with the fact that they are in there. Many of these sites share the same kinds of qualities such as great color selection, wonderful imagery, and clean layouts. However, very few of them I would consider timeless. Timeless design (to me) is when no matter what period you look at the design, it will always be considered a wonderful design. Something that stands the test of time. The kind of design where if the keeper of the site decided to change the design, you know there is no chance of improving upon the current form.

There are many beautiful sites out there. However, when these sites change sometimes the designer does a better job and sometimes he does a worse job. All a matter of opinion of course. Very rarely though does someone say that the design can not be improved. Two sites that are timeless in their designs for me are Kottke and Coudal Partners.

I really do not know what it is about these two sites, but I know that if they attempted to redesign them, I think it would be impossible for them to do any better. How gratifying would it be as a designer to create a site and 5 years later look at it and still not have the urge to change a single thing.

Images are minimal. The layout is calculated. It just seems that everything is in its perfect place. When it comes to designing something like this, is it even possible to design for it being timeless? Or is it a design crapshoot where 100 times you just miss the mark and if you are lucky you will finally get it that one time?

I understand that some of you (maybe all of you) will look at these two sites and wonder what the hell am I talking about. But the idea of timeless design exists everywhere. I am sure there are some sites that you have in mind that would be considered timeless. From a graphic design standpoint there are logos that will always stand the test of time. Timeless design is possible in any category of design. It is something that rarely happens though.

Looking at these two sites I see similarities between them which help make them attractive in my eyes. I will always love Verdana at 11px until my eyes don't work anymore. I love white backgrounds and black text. I like it simple. I really love minimalism that exudes beauty. When I start defining the traits of these two sites that I like, I begin to notice that these are really just things that I find particularly attractive. So with all this in mind, what do you consider to be the traits of a timeless design?

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Comments

#1

Shouldn't your two timeless designs be taken from archive.org? The only way you'll know something is timeless is when it's already a few years old. Or take a site that really hasn't changed for years (Slashdot, haha).

Ian Bicking (http://blog.ianbicking.org)

#2

Well I did say a timeless design has to look good. Slashdot is just well...Slashdot.

Scrivs (http://www.9rules.com/whitespace/)

#3

well, how about marcel breuer's wassily chair?
http://www.gabrielross.com/Merchant2/graphics/Knoll/wassilyChair.jpg

It's somewhat old, yet I see copies of it in many people's places.

It certainly doesn't look 70+ years old.

Caio Chassot (http://v2studio.com/k)

#4

I don't agree that timeless design rarely happens.

I'd define timeless design as something that suits it's intended purpose very well and is expertly crafted - could be anything.

The expert crafting is the part that uses the tools of the trade AND has the elusive "creative design" quality that we all strive for.

My example of timeless web page design would be hicksdesign's site - very colorful; creative and artistic; very easy to use.

Jack Burman

#5

Paul,

I tend to think timeless design is something a little more defined. Timeless design is a piece of work that stands successful, as it is, amidst the often changing trends of design as discipline. No matter what new techniques or styles emerge and stake a claim, the timeless design will still do the job successfully.

It's not just about the length of time a design has been in publication, or if it still looks good 10 years down the road. It has to continue to be successful in terms of what it is trying to accomplish.

Sam Royama (http://www.designdojo.ca)

#6

Sam: I totally agree with you on that one. You basically said what I was trying to say, but obviously you did it more accurately. Thank you for the clarification.

Scrivs (http://www.9rules.com/whitespace/)

#7

I think timeless (or at least good) design probably happens more than we might think. The problem (or at least my problem) is that too often we don't recognize it when we see it and forge ahead, sticking more visual doodads and geegaws on our creation than it ever needed.

I'm currently in the process of building my new site (Relatively Absolute), and I continue to find that designing a website is a lot like chiseling a sculpture out of a block of marble: It's more about what you take away than what you add. I think the key to a timeless design is to reduce it to only that which is necesary, nothing more (and nothing less). Simplicity supports clarity, and therefore ease of use and beauty.

<sidenote>
Since designing my site is an ongoing and live process (feel free to stop by and watch :), I think I'll start taking screenshots of my site and posting them as I move through the design process. Being able to see the evolution of a site's design might be a good resource for others.
</sidenote>

Paul G (http://www.relativelyabsolute.com)

#8

Thanks for the nice comments. I don't know about timeless though.The current layout has served us pretty well. It's been significantly modified twice in the last two years and, pretty soon, it's going to be blown up entirely for a more major redesign. As a general rule of thumb we approach design by taking things away from a project until only what is essential remains.

Coudal (http://www.coudal.com)

#9

Hmm, after taking a quick peek at those two pages, I find them a little hard to scan - a lot of things sort of blur together without catching my attention. The look and feel for each of the sites seems pretty timeless in that they're not overly trendy, and would probably not look dated in several years, which I guess is good, but I don't really think that is all that important in the world of web site design. I see it being a lot more important in furniture or architecture.

An interesting site to see the opposite of timelessness - http://mit.edu has a different design on its homepage on an almost daily basis (see http://mit.edu/site/propose.html for more info). I guess it's kind of like the Zen Garden. Though actually it's mostly just the images and colors that change, the content remains the same.

Jennifer (http://jennifergrucza.com)

#10

Personally, I'd be proud to create a timeless looking site, but I'd hate to maintain it. I love to redesign, redesign and redesign. I can't see myself sticking with the same design for over 6 months to a year. Why I don't doubt that I'd by full of pride for creating Kottke, after the time started rolling by, I'd want to redesign the site. I couldn't keep with any design, no matter how perfect it is.

David House

#11

I think timeless design should be characterized by its simplicity. Trendyness is usually associated with complexity. MTV, definitely a source for 'trendy' design, is a good example. I think timelessness would be associated with simplicity (the original Volkswagen beetle, for instance).

sergio (http://overcaffeinated.net)

#12

I just found this story which fits in with your post. If you haven't seen it, you may find the 10 points of good design interesting.

http://www.metropolismag.com/html/content_0204/ram/index.html

Jack Burman

#13

One of my favorite "timeless" designs is bowman's webmonkey design (you know..."that tidy, tidy layout").

They changed from his front page design years ago and I still miss it (I missed it before I even knew who Doug was). They're still using much of his layout throughout the rest of the site.

I know webmonkey used to be my site of choice for fresh web articles and info. I sure wish they would make some improvements to keep the site fresh.

joe mcgill (http://www.cnnxs.com)

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