Getting To The Essence Of Things

   The simple approach is often the best one. 

   Alfred Hitchcock did it in Vertigo. He only had to use a woman’s face. He zoomed in Kim Novak’s lips first, and then on her eyes, from which the movie title appeared, followed by an ominous endless spiral. From then on the viewer’s attention was complete.

   Pablo Picasso did it when he painted The Cock. He could have drawn in exquisite detail the feathers, beak and crest of a rooster, but instead we get a much clearer idea of the animal’s character and mindlessness from the simplicity and strength of  Picasso’s linear rendering.

Apple did it with the iPod. They could have listed features, capacity, and battery life. But instead they advertised only the benefit: 1000 songs in your pocket.

It’s the impression that counts. The essence of what we are interacting with. The rest are just details.

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