Learning to see

Sep 21, 2023 · Alberto Romero

How do you spot great design?

I sometimes get this question from product folks and business leaders who are looking to hire designers. To spot great design, one needs to train their eye (amongst other things).

But… how do you “learn to see”?

This video by legendary designer and educator Inge Druckrey beautifully shows a compilation of exercises that will help you develop an eye for balanced compositions, color, or nicely laid out type.

Some exercises take a few minutes, some will take a few months. In any case, just watching the video is priceless. That’s why I like to come back to it from time to time.

“Inge Druckrey: Teaching to See” from Edward Tufte on Vimeo

• Reduce what you see (and what you take photos of) to simple form vs background and geometric shapes
• Design a few posters using just 5 lines
• Pick a fruit sticker you like and create a screen printed t-shirt or rubber stamp out of it, separating its colors
• Draw some objects in your home, reducing them again to geometric primitives
• Draw complex objects with only 1 shade of the same color
• Learn calligraphy
• Design your own typeface
• Draw a chart of the schedule for a train, bus or flight you take often