How to develop a personal aesthetic — for designers
While we can all agree that design is not just skin deep, the skins we do adorn play an integral role in setting expectations, creating the right perceptions, and even serving as non-verbal communication at times. While we strive to not draw too much focus to anyone’s aesthetic, and keep it all about the work, the design community itself stands guilty of categorising, judging, and pigeon-holing through perception.
We are expected to, and even taught to develop our own aesthetic
Part and parcel of our training (formal or otherwise), is to cultivate a personal brand, to the point where there are books, courses and methodologies dedicated to this. Certainly, we can all think back to certain exercises/assignments we might have deemed pointless in design school, that, retrospectively speaking, helped each of us pivot our own practices, and develop some inclinations. As frustrating as the process can be, creatives have employed the “wax on, wax off” method endlessly over the years. Another popular one is “fake it till you make it” wherein one recreates the work of accomplished professionals for practice and skill-based development. The core idea behind any of these exercises is to build individual and unique styles, affinities, and tastes.
Whilst building an appreciation for a certain aesthetic that a brand or two embody, it’s easy to get lost in it
Once the skill-based portion of the journey is well underway; begins the curatorial bit. This journey is unique for each professional, but more often than not, it begins by learning to recognise and appreciate good design and explain why. And no matter how high your position, this skill never stops being honed. Referencing, toward a creative brief, or just to keep oneself up to date, is one of the healthiest habits to cultivate. Competitive benchmarking, brainstorming, and plain old — ‘taking inspiration from…’ stem from collections of references.
Simultaneously, we tend to do the same thing on an individual level too. Most of our early years are spent experimenting with different personal aesthetics to see what fits. This practice is informed by personal curiosity, of course, but can also be informed by external factors like social cues, trends, accessibility, and more. Given that we spend a large percentage of our working hours analysing what brands are doing and why, chancing upon a small amount of congruence between a brand personality and our own beliefs, is not uncommon at all.
But when you can’t differentiate between what you appreciate and what you’d personally like to embody, curating turns into full-on aping
Agreeing with a position a brand has taken on a certain subject is more than common. Most of us agree with several brands on several different accounts, don’t we? Well, that’s because they want us to. This collection of insights from schema research is one of several papers to try to extract how to make someone believe that a brand stands with them — only through brand positioning.
So — real or not — all of us do fall for some of these claims. And it’s okay to agree with a brand and bring some of their products into your own aesthetic if you appreciate the products themselves and see them as good additions to your aesthetic. The problem arises when that line starts to get murky. Even agreeing with a brand’s bible should never amount to one turning into a walking catalogue of the brand. Appreciation and personal preference can be two exclusive sets in one’s life. And this isn’t limited to a single brand. Turning into a walking advertisement for several brands at once, or turning your home into a page out of this month’s top architecture zine, is no better.
Instead of aping, take the time to find your own aesthetic first. Yes — it is an iterative process and can be a long one too, but it cannot possibly be as exhausting as switching and re-hauling one’s entire personality to adopt the trend of the season.
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”, but for whom?
The design community itself is mad. We’re mad at the designers that break the unsaid decorum of our community. We’re mad at the people that garner the collective opinion for us that we’re all about those brand names. We’re mad at the people that didn’t take enough time to develop their personal aesthetics and are now making the rest of us look like apes that like to collect after they imitate.
To whomsoever it may concern, here is the full version of the proverb that you’ve been misquoting:
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.”
Don’t collect, curate
When it comes to your personal brand, get creative. And please, do not collect. Your identity is not something to be scavenged. Curate your identity, take control of your persona, and represent your community with unique pride.
Canvs Editorial regularly brings you insightful reads on design and anything related. Check out the work we do at Canvs Club.
The Canvs Editorial team comprises of Editorial Writer and Researcher — Harleen Chatha, the Editor’s Desk- Aalhad Joshi and Debprotim Roy, and Content Operations- Abin Rajan Follow Canvs on Instagram and Medium as well for more design-related content.
