The Elements of Design Explained With Venn Diagrams

Kenny Grono Excellent

Roots and Rafters Yep, pretty much. I especially agree with graph #1.

jadoredecor Perfect!

msjayque So funny i love this.....especially the kitchen one

Kitchen & Bath Works I love the "Unicorns" category under Design Process!

groveraxle Jody, I don't know why you think your elegant explanations aren't going well. I think they're going swimmingly, and every single one rings true.

Lightcrafters, Inc. Too negative for my taste. At Lightcrafters we strive for the center of the Venn diagram and generally achieve it!

Howells Architecture + Design, LLC Hmm. Many of these are funny and there are some aspects that ring true. But as an architect specializing in kitchens--and passionate about what I do--I take issue with your kitchen Venn. You don't have to be Brad Pitt to have a dream kitchen. In fact better you aren't Brad Pitt--because he thinks he's an architect but he isn't.

All of my clients are ordinary Portland, OR, families. I don't advocate for cheap design in my projects (no IKEA) but we come in at the same budgets, if not lower, than big generic remodeling firms that build inferior kitchens every day. The difference with my jobs, though, is quality materials, design, and craftsmanship. I watch the builders closely, I custom design every detail of my projects (including cabinets), I spec amazing tile/fixtures (and get no "kickbacks" from anyone so it's just honest recommendations based on products believe in). That's how you get a great kitchen. It's not simply a matter of money. It's about who you hire and how seriously they take your project.

People need to be disabused of the notion that to have an amazing kitchen you need a Brad Pitt budget. None of my clients have huge budgets and all of them have great kitchens, many featured in magazines, and here on Houzz in the Kitchen of The Week section.
--Michael Howells, AIA
Howells Architecture + Design

groveraxle Life's too short to fail to see the humor in this piece.

cillisa Ha ha ha ha ha :D

summilux Pithy and clever. Being in the center of the Venn diagrams always is akin to being able to please all of the people all of the time, having an extremely lucrative practice, a 40 hour work week and 8 hours of sleep daily.

Pebbles Henson Cruz Summilux, you might add

"that, or be a unicorn"

anettewillemine Ha, ha, I love this!! I can SO relate to more than one of these.
By the way; you are an inspiration!

Wishing you a wonderful day!

Best from,
Anette Willemine
Norway

Fine Art & Portraits by Laurel Thanks again, Bro! Love your writing.

nmercurelli Ahahah Thank you! :)
I am going to hang it in my studio! :D

JAN MOYER LOL love it! It is so often possible to get in the center Venn, but equally often the "MOAT" around that wonderful intersection will be the client. A designer will have hundreds of conversations with a homeowner through the process, and all of those will be simply a verbal version of one of the diagrams, endlessly repeated until you succeed in dragging them to the sweet spot , and as close to their own personal nirvana as possible. Maybe Jody can diagram that one! A stairway to heaven including Beauty, Comfort, Function, Personal Style, Cost Appropriateness, Time/Deadline, Availability...eight circles to nirvana! I just figured out why I am tired this morning and why a diagram of my brain might look like a chunk of cracked brown earth in a drought.

Lisa Mackay Hilarious and well done. Can't go wrong with Venn diagrams.

jayewo Love this! thanks for the laugh - and a reality check. I know no one will believe this, but I compared these charts with what happens with my builder/designer and he came through like a champ! Count me VERY lucky.

faithwaite really funny!

Thistle Hill Design Studio Great way to introduce yourself to a new client with a bit of humor. Graphics always help!

kwooten Perfect!

fabia What is so great about Ikea kitchens? PLease tell me. Why does the world have a facination with a RTA product? My clients understand happiness at the end of the day in their new kitchen.

I design, create and provide what they need, want and desire. Budget with most is paramount, so it is my reality to go from that point with a strong wish to build a reality( dream) for them.

I warn everyone, deconstructing your home is going to hurt. It will take from your soul, your comfort will be disturbed. In the end all will be well. The process is what it is. Rarely perfect, but mostly with a happy ending.

astraea Love the Venn diagrams, but am often frustrated that I usually want to be in that "0" spot, where everything overlaps & comes together!

Debs Peach Love it !! I literally LOL'd at the kitchen one. Genius.

patientmom Just finishing a total home reno, every room. We gutted out the home we purchased. Love your sense of humour combined with a reality check :0). Tks to HOUZZ the process was alot easier .... Thank you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

graciecat This is so accurate. And funny! Thanks for the morning smile.

Shan Sundaram superb !

sjmah Awesome!

frenchdecor It's very funny, I enjoyed it. What about living room renovation -your budget is $4,000; designers' asking reward $2,000; contractors' asking reward $2,000; $0 left for materials. If you think I am kidding, maybe you would like to read farther. We had estimation for duct cleaning $760 (It was cleaned 2 years before) My question- how long it will take? "3 hours mam"; my answer- NO ."We are doing excellent job"; my answer- I bet you should if you are charging about $250 per hour, my lawer would work for me for such price. " There 2 workers doing cleaning"; my answer- then 2 junior lawers will do duct cleaning for me + my hydro? No. Thank you.

mblon We're building right now and this is hilarious. I'm e-mailing to my husband.

ebova Now that I am having a house built, I find these design pie charts hilarious!

Dream House Interiors So, so, so dead on!

fishtaco Well done!

Diane Very well explained, thank you.

Amanda Simons The best one yet!

jencortez Love this.

Hyphen Interiors That's awesome. I love it. I think the first one is my favorite.

yularue Love this! Ha, HA!!

rsharifi Very clever. Thanks

robin07 funny and true. Thanks

tsudhonimh My design engineer SO is ROFLing in his office at these.

Because most of these apply to his job.

jbdeere I especially like that the chances of us having a kitchen like Brad Pitt's is zero!

zukpr coffee is snorted all over my keyboard! thanks!

Howells Architecture + Design, LLC groveraxle, maybe you're right. But I'm an architect. We're not known for our humor.

:)

mkhovland Made my day! Hilarious & oh so true

fuzbrain Pity those who don't find humor in this. I dos't think they take life too seriously, especially themselves.

Anne DeRuiter Oh my goodness, that was hysterical! Thanks for creating that. I make a mean rhubarb pie; I'll bring you some.

332pleasant I love this and I want one for my business!

ameliad This made me Laugh! Thank you. So, so, accurate.

sandy58 I loved this as well - and would also like a copy for my office. It is all so true!

lullyf Very funny and so true! Excellent!

Lynne Lightowler_Buck Brilliant!

Alice As a client, about to embark on a major kitchen/front entrance/main floor reno, I am not sure whether to laugh or cry at this moment... I like that it is done from the client's perspective ("you" in the diagrams is the client), instead of being an industry inside joke between designers and contractors about their stupid clients. Speaking as a client, hoping I am not stupid to my designer and contractor...

Blue Garnet Design Absolutely love this, and very close to the truth.

kaspytek OMG! This had me laughing my full head off! ! I've got 3 gutted bathrooms/hallways right now so the laughter was sorely needed

Brian Crilly I find this entertaining and truthful from the point of view of a client. From a design professional side and licensed architect I'd ask to see quality of life versus these standards of living which have been shocased.

andieeh Love this!!!

Margaret Eaton Thank you. I look forward to your oh so helpful explanations and the laughs, smirks and sighs they engender.

lrhome Loved it! Especially since I am going through a kitchen reno....

villainteriors Love #1

lesley449 Brilliant ... and as of this morning my plans were approved from the council for my extension ..... I am already exhausted with the horrendous issue of getting builders quotes! I live in Dorset in the Uk by the way .... small 16c thatched cottage ready for new bootroom, bathroom and breakfast room .... ; )

Tim Rechin IKEA is just another resource and like all resources should be evaluated accordingly. Not everyone has the wallet to pay for custom. Also, interesting that all diagrams except the last are constraints driven - the center being unacheivable, etc. but nice to see the last diagram is aspirational. Perhaps helpful to start with the Good Design diagram (this what we aspire to...) and use the others to help frame the process challenges which is hard for clients to understand.

magnesbunn Excellent...made me laugh because it's so true!

luisaschunk Seems to be going better in achieving your one simple goal.

Fiona Jenkins Love it!

tshome Thanks to this article, I am now officially hooked on this site almost as much as I'm hooked on home decorations.

Bigmango soooooo true!!!!!!!!!!

ESPEJO DESIGN AND CONSTRUCT GROUP PRETTY MUCH APRECIATED THE LAST GRAPH...

Kari Wish List Design This is really fantastic! True AND funny!!

Elizabeth Olson It's funny you guys! Get over it!

CAROLE MEYER Funny!

alex_young the first one is so true. at least i have experienced exactly the same with my clients and contractors.

Cathy Cowdroy Love it!!!! So funny and definitely true!

typoagain LOL! I laughted all the way through. So true! SO VERY TRUE!

Becca Liu I couldn't stop laughing!!

draft I have just done an extensive house renovation....you have described all the scenarios exactly as they happened....even the Ikea kitchen. Well done

vanwitte bwahahaha just renovated and its spot on!

fabia @aliceabbott, I wish you good luck, this is not a joke at clients, rather a sence of humour about Designers. Including Architects. Decorators or stylists, or whatever the name of the day is. Go into your project with a note book, and patience. In a few months it will be all done, and you will have a wonderful new space.

Alice @fabia - thanks, I am not too freaked out, but it was a good expecation-adjustment at the same time (too tired to be freaked out - job, 3 kids, dog, husband freaking out for me...).

cdbneaux AHA ! ! !

Jodie Cook Landscape Design That was fantastic! Gave me a much need chuckle. Thanks for posting it!

Emery & Associates Interior Design Hilarious! Made me laugh out loud. Keep up the humor. God knows, we in the design industry need it! Hope you are saving up your posts for a book.

katydidit This is depressing. I think I need to buy a spec house.

Jenny Brilliant and accurate.

Sharon McLeod I actually laughed out loud at the kitchen one (and promptly printed it out to share with my co-workers) as I am a kitchen designer!

jlamberski I am a blogger for interior designers and I pretty much spend my days on Houzz looking for articles... you have made my job so fun lately!! All of your article are awesomely hilarious and witty!!! THANK YOU!!!!

TKD Architecture Loved the first one. It is a graphic representation of what we tell clients. You can have it cheap, fast or good. Pick two!

gypsypunk8 VERY well done.

agedtechie Genius !

Gregg Gordon Solem Design Thank you for sharing what I am thinking ALL THE TIME....
As an idealistic perfectionist - well these spheres say it all
I have forwarded to many of my clients - with rousing responses -
keep going - these make me smile

carolerains Jody, one of your best ones yet.

susanb9 Oh...I needed this! I am laughing so hard because it is soooooo true. I have spent the last 10 months remodeling a very old stone house and I have passed through all you have described. Thanks for the good laugh! (Hoping to be done by Thanksgiving Day)

sareme Unicorns rules!!!!! :D

purplenilla I get it now....thanks - it's great!

yihsin good:)

Louis Côté Merci de nous données la possibilité de suives toutes les nouveautés dans le monde.

greenthumb2 haha. so great to create something mathematical and practical and hysterical! loved reading all of them.

Lizbeth Carulla arquitecta design process :)
a unicorn indeed....

Rio Brewster This pretty much describes web development too.

Wendy Hoechstetter This is priceless!

studio | FORMA Were can I get a copy of the Venn Diagrams??? Please!!!!

cefreeman LOL.
Why is it that people who take themselves too seriously always want to contradict a joke or explain why it doesn't apply to them? Rebuilding my kitchen myself, on a waitress/yoga teacher income, I see all these intersections! I needed the laugh, since I save for EVER to get exactly what I want, within the confines of my property. I will have unicorns. I swear. I promise and will post pics.

songhungsong LOL ^^ thumb up

tentex3 Funny and so true!

memama So funny and so true! "It's on hold" is a sub-category of "out of stock", right?

Kevin O'Brien Yes, amusing way of illustrating the scenarios at hand. It is the same for a myriad of projects, just worded correctly for homes. Should not take a diagram but this works and is entertaining. I...the one who does a myriad of design, consulting, the actual work and more. My friend...client, shared this. I strive for the center in all projects and make sure I get there....pays to be the two circles for the client in any project, if possible!! Nice, Jody.

Kevin O'Brien Yes, amusing way of illustrating the scenarios at hand. It is the same for a myriad of projects, just worded correctly for homes. Should not take a diagram but this works and is entertaining. I...the one who does a myriad of design, consulting, the actual work and more. My friend...client, shared this. I strive for the center in all projects and make sure I get there....pays to be the two circles for the client in any project, if possible!! Nice, Jody.

Katrina So tru and funny

designideas4me Lets eat some pie together, after you build me my Ikea kitchen !

Lifeline Property I love this! What a great way to explain the process. I've redesigned entire homes from the studs and use IKEA often. It's a fantastic product at less than half the cost of the typically overpriced cabinetry sold in home stores. I have yet to hear a single negative about the kitchens or baths where I've used IKEA. In fact, my last house sold in two weeks after the completion of the remodel. No complaints here!