Over It. How Over-Design is Ruining Everything
by Mark Donica
There are many examples of great design today. Mass marketed items like Japan’s Muji, and even Ikea (seriously), as well as countless small independent studios create simple, beautiful solutions that would look natural in any setting in the post-neolithic age. Ageless and placeless. Allow me to get heady for a moment. Their existence is like a universal language connecting all of us by way of a simple, perfect user experience. They connect us because we can all relate to the satisfaction of a well designed product. Unfortunately, this article is not about these well-designed objects.
I would like to turn your attention to the dark side of current design. We are in an era of some of the silliest looking objects ever created en masse. The age of plastic has been unkind to many of our most cherished appliances and tools. AutoCAD designers are literally out of control, adding layers and layers of strange, unnecessary divots and pointless facades. To what end? It may sound trivial, but I assure you, this is one of the most important issues of our time. I’ll explain why, but first let’s name names.
Consider fake air vents on appliances and cars. This accent has become so ubiquitous that we barely even notice it anymore. My father has an electric weed trimmer that looks like its design was partially inspired by an M16 rifle. The power tools and outdoor appliances at Home Depot look like Nike’s most freaky running shoe artists had a design jam with some weapons manufacturers. The end result looks like it should be super high tech. The new Honda Accords have a crazy amount of strange curves, fins, protrusions, and vent-esque features. The vents are actually fake though. It’s like their only purpose is to distract your eyes from the car’s lack of substance. I will admit there is a strange, lizard brain part of me that is actually completely mesmerized by these complicated, pointless features. But that’s exactly why they must be stopped.
Architecture in my hometown, Austin, TX is another pain point of mine. Here’s an example. There is a new, huge mixed-use community being built on the site of Austin’s former Mueller airport. While a small portion of the new structures showcase truly great modern design by the likes of Michael Hsu and others, the majority of the homes look like they were generated by an artificial intelligence. It’s like someone entered a picture of the average suburban home from the 90’s into google’s Deep Dream image generator. The output is filled with a dizzying amount of nooks, nubs, crannies and facades, like something out of Inception. They look like computer generated fractal art but without any redeeming aesthetic value. Yikes!
The solution doesn’t have to just be thoughtful minimalism. (Although that’s not a bad idea!) There is real value in some of the baroque flourishes of the past. Many of the classic historical designs from around the world exhibit filigree and decoration, and an added beauty of such designs is their self awareness. They are not pretending to have some sort of high tech mechanical purpose. Today’s filigree is lying to us. When you create an object or a piece of software that is designed disingenuously, it shows. Be honest and respect your user.
