Less Is So Much More
Good design, tasteful design, elegant design are all understated, simple and refined
My wife has a natural ability to recognize and create good design, color and style, so she dresses impeccably and has a reputation for doing so. The same applies to her taste in home furnishings and accessories. I’m fairly good with color and design, but she picks out what I wear because her abilities exceed mine in this regard. For those with existing innate talent for design and style, it’s easily enhanced through experience. For others, design and style can be learned to varying degrees. But for many, it’s just not there — their recognition and implementation of these is inconsistent and sometimes rather marginal.
As a magazine editor, my art director was particularly important to me. From design to layout to color, he or she created the look and feel of each issue. My German art director once told me that his father back in Germany never understood how he earned a living. His father would look at his work and note that it didn’t appear particularly difficult to create, to which his son replied that good design looks simple because it requires considerable skill to accomplish. Doing too much or over-designing is easier but never an improvement.
There’s a phrase common to designers regardless of their field of endeavor — less is more. Good design, tasteful design, elegant design are all understated, simple and refined. From industrial design to product design, simplicity and style are synonymous with the best work. Quality design lasts, whereas design that simply grabs attention typically has limited aesthetic qualities and easily becomes tiresome. My impression is that consumers craving the most attention make their design and color choices on the same basis, and for them less just can’t be more.
The use of color is critical to design, and nothing is more antithetical to good design than too much — too much color, too many colors or unnecessary additional color(s). More is not more. What might look good on a race car or sports team uniform, for example, rarely translates well to other forms, types and goals of design. This is not about logos and branding with color but how color is chosen and used. Accent colors (often bright but sometimes dark) that add style when used sparingly become atrocious and annoying when they become the focus of the design. There are millions of shades of color, but not all are aesthetically excellent alone or in combination.
Finishes are also very important to design. Polished metal, for example, can be elegant and sophisticated, whereas chrome is just shiny, and more of it is only worse. A lack of subtlety and nuance easily undermines good design and style. Of course, personal taste is what one likes or doesn’t, and in the age of product customization, the qualities of personal taste can be expressed in more ways than ever…and not always well. Each field of design has its own highs and lows. Within established categories, say styles of furniture and accessories, design can be well executed or garish and ill-conceived. The differences, however, may not be apparent if one doesn’t like or even loathes the style in question.
In Southern California, where every major automobile manufacturer has a design studio and the phrase you are what you drive was invented, design influences from these studios are on display in quantity — but not always in quality — on freeways and streets. There are lots of expensive imports, some tasteful and elegant, some not. Even those manufacturers capable of excellence in design will sometimes seek less lofty goals in the name of sales, offering special editions that ignore less is more with unfortunate results. When such models linger too long in inventory, steep discounts and generous trade-ins may help sell them to less discriminating buyers.
I probably can’t make a compelling case for why good design is pragmatically desirable beyond noting it sets standards that educate and enlighten aesthetically. At the same time, there is no case to be made that all personal tastes are equal. Indeed, we go to considerable effort to control the aesthetically challenged. Homeowner associations prevent them from painting the outside of their homes purple or orange, although they are free to do so inside. There are various dress codes in schools, restaurants and other locations meant to repel those who assume that what’s allowed for shopping at Walmart is good everywhere.
Quality design isn’t necessarily about price, although with certain materials it may have to be. In general, it doesn’t require expensive materials to create tasteful, attractive home interiors, wardrobes and so on. Conversely, those with financial resources but appalling personal tastes can easily spend lavishly on design and style (let’s call it the Donald Trump syndrome) that reeks of just more for more’s sake. Even wandering through the kitchen and bath sections of stores reveals how items can be attractive and stylish instead of simply functional. The pleasures of good design and style increase the quality of life, and that’s a pragmatic goal worth pursuing.
