Homework 1 Article Response

What I'm able to take away from The New York Times article "How To Ruin A Great Design" is that sometimes a great design can't be beat, and it works so well over time people could describe it as timeless. As the article discussed the change of London's traffic signs, if someone tries to change a classic design and end up producing one that becomes so distracting it erases the real purpose of the design, that is completely a downright failure; especially for a design regarding public safety, being too distracting could birth severe issues like a traffic accident. A design is referred to as "Great" for a reason and like the article explained, you try to improve upon a great design, a good amount of times it won't end up as well received, no matter how much the big design firm that made the new logo tries to convince you that its so much better. It ends up taking away something that the design stands for, like the Citroën logo; it took away what seemed like a pride for its roots and made it more generic and similar to other car manufacturing logos. A great design can't be outdone by a poorly made new one trying to be flashier or more new unique; no matter how the original design ranges in sophistication, from Kinnier and Calvert's meticulously planned traffic sign system to Arne Jacobsen's Egg and Series 7 chairs.