Avoid being ugly

Rick Altman says that the aim of the average person doing design (such as newsletters, bulletins, flyers, or graphics) should be the "absence of ugliness."

While that at first may seem harsh, he's pointing out that it's not realistic for average people to assume that they can become a professional designer in their spare time. Instead, he asserts, they should adopt simple techniques that will help them stay away from making ugly creations.

This also dovetails with a maxim of web site design – it's better to have no web site than to have an ugly one. Looks does count to visitors! Ugly stops them cold in their tracks.

Of course, content matters, so even if the product is not ugly, the text has to keep people reading.