Summary. Matthew E. May, the author of The Elegant Solution: Toyota’s Formula for Mastering Innovation, has written a new book on success through subtractive design, In Pursuit of Elegance: Why the Best Ideas Have Something Missing. [buy now]
This book explores elegance and effectiveness through simplicity as a foundational historic principle that we can all benefit from.
Subtractive design is the removal of the non-essential to give strength, attention, focus and energy to the essentials that remains.
This method can be applied to architecture, writing, cars, and numerous other products, services, events, and areas of life.
For example, Apple designs their computers and their mobile devices using this principle.
Below is an excerpt from the book description.
Combining unusual simplicity and surprising power, elegance is characterized by four key elements—seduction, subtraction, symmetry, and sustainability.