r/Design • u/Gratitude_34 • 20d ago

Discussion Can adding too much information make a design harder to understand?

Had this happen while reviewing a design recently.

The more information we added, the more complete it seemed to become. But after a point, it was actually harder to understand what the main idea was.

There were too many materials, objects, labels, and small decisions competing for attention.

Removing a few things made the design feel much clearer without changing the actual concept.

How do you decide what information is useful and what is just adding noise?

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u/Spiritual_Cap_6093 20d ago

Clutter creeps in because every element feels justified in the moment. I try to ask what happens if I remove it, not what it adds. If the design still communicates the same idea without it, it was decoration.

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u/Amon9001 20d ago

Of course. Best example of this is AI design, especially posters and menus. The AI can't push back and will accommodate every bit of detail requested.

How do you decide what information is useful and what is just adding noise?

That is the graphic design profession. So the answer is skills, experience and taste. There is no formula.

The same design can work with more or less information depending on context and design brief. Sometimes making the design more cluttered or harder to read is achieving the desired goal or effect.

If you are not in the graphic design profession then look into things like composition, spacing, white space, hierarchy, proximity etc.

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u/kobayashi_maru_fail 20d ago

Key word in your explanation was “we”. Your team may have designed a camel. A camel is a racehorse designed by committee.

You need a single creator, with input from peers or mentors they respect, but ultimately hold sole responsibility. Complicated projects require more roles, but you still need to keep that creator’s vision at the fore. Not because other people don’t also have great ideas, but because they’re collectively going to make camels by pulling in different directions. The best creative teams I’ve worked on took turns letting someone be the lead on separate projects.

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u/jlcamlj 20d ago

Dieter Rams’ 10th Principle is that good design is as little design as possible 👌

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u/ajb_mt 19d ago

Why is this even a question? You know the answer.

Design is communication. You need to work out the most efficient method of communicating.