Are you familiar with the MAYA principle? It was created by the industrial designer Raymond Loewy, who was responsible for the Coca Cola bottle, and logos for the US Postal Service, Greyhound Bus, and many others. Loewy’s philosophy was to design for the future, but to introduce it incrementally. While pushing for advancement, he sought a balance between the novel and the familiar, looking for just the right mix so that his ideas would be seen as forward-looking, but not alienating.
In his words:
“The adult public’s taste is not necessarily ready to accept the logical solutions to their requirements if the solution implies too vast a departure from what they have been conditioned into accepting as the norm.”
I’m pretty sure I‘ve had this conversation about the AEC industry once or twice, and I’m guessing you may have, too.
The Interaction Design Foundation has prepared some helpful tips for applying the MAYA principle in your work. They include:
- Advance your design…