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The age of average

alexmurrell.co.uk

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Re: The age of average

#321

Post by DeathArrow »

crazygringo wrote: post #123

What the article describes is correct, but I don't think the words "average" or "homogeneity" or "conformity" are the right terms, as they seem to carry negative connotations here. Rather, the right word is "convergence". The point is, people like certain things aesthetically. It used to be that artists and designers were still trying to figure out what looks good, and trying all the things. But now we've tried so ma…

> The great mistake that this article makes is thinking that people need to be constantly expressing themselves in some unique way that nobody's ever done before. But the world has almost 8 billion people, few things are as unique as you think.

I think you got it wrong. We shouldn't express different and we needn't to as ordinary people.

But as creatives, as creators originality it's what should define us.

Re: The age of average

#322

Post by thomastjeffery »

411111111111111 wrote: post #252
thomastjeffery wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the contrary! There is a key difference going from "convergence" to "conformity": circular reasoning. People who need to sell the thing they invent, tell themselves that "convergence" is the best way there. Customers like familiar traits. So they design for intentional convergence, and that is the essence of conformity. 99.99999% of keyboards are the same physical layout. This layout is a standard that conforms to…

They're only the same if you're taking an extremely reductive approach to them... And at that point you could also say that "99.99999%%" of Smartphones are the same, wherever they're iPhones, Androids or windows from a dacades ago. They're all rectangular devices with a large screen and touch input after all.

They are physically the exact same size and shape. That isn't reductive at all.

Re: The age of average

#323

Post by red-iron-pine »

ryandrake wrote: post #148
bumby wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've tried making this same point when it comes to auto designs (at least in the competitive, cost-sensitive ones). A lot of mid-sized cars look the same because the design constraints generally converge on the same handful of principles. They've converged not in the aesthetic sense as much as the engineering sense: because they work at a relatively low cost. (I'm speaking mainly about things like aerodynamics here,…

Even if they had to ultra-optimize the aerodynamics so all the cars look like the same bar of soap (they don't have to), they could still at least paint the damn soap a different color. But, no. All you see coming out of the factory are white, silver, gray, black, the occasional red and the occasional blue. What's driving this? That's what the article is about. Is it actually pull from customers, or is it push from t…

> so all the cars look like the same bar of soap (they don't have to)

they do have to, though. updated standards to fuel efficiency and crash safety.

there are only so many ways to make that happen -- an aerodynamic, fuel efficient bumper that also meets safety requirements -- and still be cheap enough for the average person.

Re: The age of average

#325

Post by DeathArrow »

> “In nearly every country all people really wanted was a landscape with a few figures around, animals in the foreground, mainly blue.”

Despite soliciting the opinions of over 11,000 people, from 11 different countries, each of the paintings looked almost exactly the same.

I am literally amazed, all that effort. In my modest European country, there were kitsch painters offering their "art" by tens, for very cheap at resorts near seaside or at mountains resorts.

All were like in the article, mainly blue, with few humans in the background and some possible animals in the foreground. Blue lakes near the mountains, bluea sea, hut with huge blue sky.

All those kitsch artists never did a study.

Re: The age of average

#326

Post by misterprime »

crazygringo wrote: post #123

What the article describes is correct, but I don't think the words "average" or "homogeneity" or "conformity" are the right terms, as they seem to carry negative connotations here. Rather, the right word is "convergence". The point is, people like certain things aesthetically. It used to be that artists and designers were still trying to figure out what looks good, and trying all the things. But now we've tried so ma…

I know some people are making the point that taste is subjective, but I'd like to argue that, at least in some aspects, certain designs are solvable. There may be an interesting period of variety while we solve something, but eventually, we can get there. I was taken aback while watching Something's Gotta Give recently. The movie is from 2003 and spends a lot of time in a nice house. Well, the kitchen looked perfect to me, 20 years later. If I could have an ideal kitchen, it would be that one. If you want back 30, 40, and 50 years and showed me an expensive kitchen, they would not appear "solved" in the same way.

I realize this may be just my personal taste, but I doubt that. Feedback would be welcome.

You can see the kitchen here: https://youtu.be/K0fcPiUjh64

Re: The age of average

#327

Post by 8note »

thomastjeffery wrote: post #237
crazygringo wrote: post #123

What the article describes is correct, but I don't think the words "average" or "homogeneity" or "conformity" are the right terms, as they seem to carry negative connotations here. Rather, the right word is "convergence". The point is, people like certain things aesthetically. It used to be that artists and designers were still trying to figure out what looks good, and trying all the things. But now we've tried so ma…

On the contrary! There is a key difference going from "convergence" to "conformity": circular reasoning. People who need to sell the thing they invent, tell themselves that "convergence" is the best way there. Customers like familiar traits. So they design for intentional convergence, and that is the essence of conformity. 99.99999% of keyboards are the same physical layout. This layout is a standard that conforms to…

That layout is not the case.

For instance, Canadian keyboards have a different layout from American ones, and keyboards that support other languages have different keys as well

Re: The age of average

#328

Post by ilaksh »

DeathArrow wrote: post #325

> “In nearly every country all people really wanted was a landscape with a few figures around, animals in the foreground, mainly blue.” Despite soliciting the opinions of over 11,000 people, from 11 different countries, each of the paintings looked almost exactly the same. I am literally amazed, all that effort. In my modest European country, there were kitsch painters offering their "art" by tens, for very cheap at…

Maybe they studied what paintings sold for them.

Re: The age of average

#329

Post by mlhpdx »

I’m clearly in a different world; I see wild diversity in aesthetics and function around me every day. Conformity and convergence? Yes, it’s there but all around it is the beautiful chaos of creativity and divergence.

Re: The age of average

#330

Post by ilaksh »

Most people instinctively hate things that are truly new or different or generally stand out. It may be due to cognitive limitations or maybe just common instinct.

That's why the conclusion of the article doesn't work. You can't sell anything that's truly new or different. I think that the only way trends change is when so many people have tried that the herd has basically migrated to that new position accidentally inch-by-inch. It will trample all of the people leading the way and deny that they existed.

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