Good Design, Bad Design, Great Design
(By Raph Koster - www.raphkoster.com)

Good design is familiar.
Bad design is boring.
Great design is exciting.

Good design embraces human nature.
Bad design exploits human nature.
Great design is humane and humanistic.

Good design guides.
Bad design controls.
Great design invites.

Good design drives habit.
Bad design drives frustration.
Great design drives passion.

Good design teaches.
Bad design lectures.
Great design has you teach yourself.

Good design is invisible.
Bad design calls attention to itself.
Great design calls attention to what you can do.

Good design celebrates accomplishments.
Bad design loudly celebrates minor accomplishments.
Great design enables accomplishments.

Good design does what the user wanted.
Bad design does what the designer wanted.
Great design does what the user didn't know they needed.

Good design is at the user's skill level.
Bad design never asked the user.
Great design makes everyone think they can use it.

Good design is intentional.
Bad design is planned (exhaustively, on paper).
Great design reveals itself while working in the materials.

Good design gets people to pay for utility.
Bad design gets people to pay as quickly as possible.
Great design makes money as an incidental consequence.

Good design makes companies.
Bad design can make plenty of money.
Great design builds legacies, cultures, and communities.

Good design converses.
Bad design tells.
Great design connects people.

Good design executes on the possible.
Bad design ships on time.
Great design reaches for the implausible.

Good design has only the parts it needs.
Bad design is cluttered.
Great design has fewer parts than seem possible.

Good design doesn't fail.
Bad design fails a lot.
Great design fails even more.

I have done good design.
I have done plenty of bad design.
I always want to do great design.

The purpose of this book is to release one particular secret, which has been kept hidden for the last 12,000 years. The Philosophers' Stone, Elixir of Life, Fountain of Youth, Ambrosia, Soma, Amrita, Nectar of Immortality. These are different names for the same thing.

Throughout history this secret has been used by a very few to extend their lives hundreds of years in perfect health, with access to unlimited wealth, among many other miraculous properties. Some kept the secret because they understood that the time was not right for the secret to be free for all people, but most kept the secret out of their own jealousy, ignorance, egotism and corruption.

The Stone's history and the history of the human race up until this day is a strange story full of secret societies, hooded cloaks, and mystical symbols. Such theatrics are childish and shallow. It's pointless to look for the light in the shadows.

The Philosophers' Stone operates and is made by entirely natural and scientific means. Truth is always simple, beautiful and easy to understand.

The Philosophers' Stone is real; you can make it at home. The Stone makes old people young, heals all forms of sickness and disease, extends your life, turns any metal into gold, and more, as you will learn. This isn't a myth or a metaphor, it's a fact.

Don't judge this book before you've read it. This is not one of those airy fairy books written in all kinds of mystical language, filling pages with words that makes sentences but not sense. This book will make more sense than anything you've ever read before.

The age of secrets is over. I'm writing this book in common English. There's no need for mystical language or metaphor. This book contains no hidden meaning or codes; everything is stated plainly and directly, in the shortest and simplest of words necessary to convey the meaning.