Laws of Simplicity

I just finished reading the Laws of Simplicity by John Maeda. (If you are one of my Facebook "friends," you already know that.) The seventh law is emotion: "more emotions are better than less."

One story jumped out at me. Mr. Maeda tells the story of his daughter sending him emails with text of all sizes, colors and caps. "

Does not the phrase "I love you!" have so much more meaning when typed:"I LOVE YOU!"? Think of it typed at 36 points in pink and bright yellow and it really can go over the top."

He then contrasts this message with one of his students. She never smiled when communicating with others because she didn't "want to look unprofessional." He reflected on his attempts to project professionalism by being stern and authoritative. He did not like it. So now, when nobody is looking, he replies back to his daughter in all-caps and colorful letters: "I LOVE YOU TOO!!!"

It dawned on me that being professional and being personable should not be exclusive. One of things I like about this blog, Facebook and other social media is that it allows me to be personable.

If you are interested in the ten laws of simplicity, here they are (linking to his website.):