Law 9: Failure
“Somethings can never be made simple.”
Failure can be a good thing. It is through failure that we are able to learn from our mistakes and make improvements. Success would not exist without failure, much like simplicity would not exist without complexity. Polar opposites need each other to distinguish the differences between them. There are varying degrees of simplicity and complexity to satisfy the differences between them.
Law 10: The One
“Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful.”
Maeda’s expression of simplifying the number 10, by removing the 0 thus creating the One is a perfect analogy for creating simplicity. The number 0 holds no value, it is of no importance; therefore, it can be removed to simplify the number 10. The number one is used to represent the best, 1st place, thus deeming #1 with utmost importance. This represents the meaningful. This is the process in which we should evaluate something to create simplicity… Taking away that which holds no true value and leaving only that which has meaning.
