Why design principles are important

The principles of art and design are balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, pattern, rhythm, and unity/variety.
The use of these principles can help determine whether a painting is successful, and whether or not the painting is finished.
The artist decides what principles of art he or she wants to use in a painting.
The principles of design help you to carefully plan and organize the elements of art so that you will hold interest and command attention.
This is sometimes referred to as visual impact.
In any work of art there is a thought process for the arrangement and use of the elements of design.

Design principles help to keep important values front and center in the design process. When successfully composed and used, design principles ensure consistency in decision making across designers and teams, removing the need to debate simple tradeoffs and letting designers worry about complex problems.

What are some examples of universal design principles?

Universal design principles can be applied to any design context.
Examples include:

Nielsen’s 10 usability heuristics
Whitney Hess’s 5 guiding principles for experience designers and the following from Dieter Ram’s 10 principles of good design:
Good design is innovative

Good design makes a product useful.
Good design is aesthetic.

What are the principles of website design?

Larger elements are more important, smaller elements less.
Hierarchy is another principle of design that directly relates to how well content can be processed by people using a website.
It refers to the importance of elements within a design.
The most important elements (or content) should appear to be the most important.

What makes a good design?

Good design is environmentally-friendly.
Good design is as little design as possible.
Company design principles are the most common type of design principles.
They outline the principles that a particular company or internal design team hold dear.

Why are design principles important?

Design principles are especially useful for new starters to a company or team.
Design principles help to guide and steer a design throughout the design process.
At each point of the process it should be possible to consider and review a design in the context of a shared set of principles.