In package design (for purposes of this article, graphics, as opposed to structural), “less is more” has become a mantra. Need proof? Start with the design firms, big and small, that chime it. Packaging trade magazines join in with articles about designs that purportedly embody the phrase. Contest judges add their voices, commonly describing winning designs as clean, sleek, and uncluttered.
There’s a catchiness to “less is more,” likely owing to its counter-intuitive—even contradictory—nature. The opposite argument also can be made, that the phrase reflects our preference for the simplified over the complex. It would be great if corporations, through their operations, could make KISS stand for Keep It Super Simple.
