I was having a chat with Dan Blundell the other day about appearance and quality and how we are biased towards things that look good.
A couple of weeks ago, Dan gave me a collection of books, so I was thanking him and saying it had been a while since I had a book lingering on my desk at home but now I keep one with me, particularly the most elegant book – Universal Principles of Design.
People say never judge a book by its cover, but it seems rather common for people to react to the appearance of a product, be it a bottle of wine or a car, and get an attitude towards it without really examining the quality of the content. But there’s something more about looks and quality. If someone has worked hard to design a great cover, it is highly likely that they worked equally hard on the content too.