Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Updated

Propositional Density

The relationship between the elements of a design and the meaning they convey. Designs with high propositional density are more interesting and memorable than designs with low propositional density.

Propositional density is the amount of information conveyed in an object or environment per unit element.1 High propositional density is a key factor in making designs engaging and memorable — it is what makes double entendres interesting and puns funny (i.e., they express multiple meanings with a single phrase). For present purposes, a proposition is an elementary statement about an object or environment that cannot be easily broken down into constituent propositions. There are two types of propositions: surface propositions ...