The Essence of Good Design

Written by a designer and two philosophers, this short, highly illustrated book advances the idea that responsive cohesion is the essence of good design.

Responsive cohesion refers to a state in which things ‘hold together’ (or cohere) due to the mutual responsiveness of the features that constitute them. This contrasts with fixed cohesion (in which things hold – or are held – together in a more forced, constrained, or non-mutually responsive way) and discohesion (in which things don’t hold together well or at all). The authors argue that responsive cohesion is the best form of organisation in general and, thus, the best guide to creating those deliberate forms of organisation we refer to as ‘design’. Moreover, this claim applies not only to individual examples of design but also, and importantly, to how these items fit with their wider human-constructed, human social, and ecological contexts.

The book shows how these ideas illuminate and can be applied to a wide range of design areas, ranging from gardens and domestic objects to architecture, urban design, and cultural landscapes. Both accessible and rigorous, this book is essential reading for designers and a compelling introduction for those interested in design.