If you want an element of a design to stand out, you contrast it. Make it bigger, bolder, brighter, lighter, darker, something… make it different. Beauty is not in contrast to something else, it just is. Nothing is beautiful because it’s contrasted with something ugly. It’s beautiful because it is. The fact that it is beautiful may be brought to your attention because it’s bigger, bolder, brighter, lighter or darker, but once something beautiful grabs your attention though, all that other stuff is irrelevant.

I had the pleasure of seeing some beautiful animals this week. They brought to my attention something that I think I already knew. Beauty just… is. It doesn’t need to be compared or contrasted, highlighted or outlined. People may disagree on what beauty is, but when they see it, they know.

That may sound odd coming from a designer, but it’s true. I can display a photographers work in a flattering light, or make a writer words easier to read. I can draw attention to what’s significant. I can make a reader stop and look at something, but when it all comes down to it… beauty just is. Beauty stands alone.