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The Flat Sink

sachagreif.com

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Re: The Flat Sink

#31

Post by no_more_death »

arscan wrote: post #9

I'm not going to comment on the message as a whole, since this whole flat aesthetic thing has been argued up and down on HN over the last few months. But there was one line that stuck out to me as being a little off: > Get rid of all texture, and you might end up with cold, sterile designs that scare users away. I'm on board with the usability argument, but I don't think that removing gradients and drop shadows neces…

I've noticed that most large companies go for a sterile look. Google, Microsoft, etc. I've always thought of Apple design as sterile as well.

Getting off track, Apple design is simply not a monolithic, "zen" one-stroke entity. Apple design amalgamates understated hardware with loud, lickable user interfaces. To see my point, consider that Apple hardware is definitely NOT lickable, whereas software generally is. Historically this may be due to the dissonance between Forstall (software design) and Ive (engineering design).

(Feel free to shred me as I don't really know anything about Apple design.)

Re: The Flat Sink

#32

Post by crazygringo »

I stayed with a friend in a then-new building designed by Philippe Starck, in New York.

The bathroom sink faucet handles were very cool -- just smooth steel cylinders sticking out, that you rotated.

Until I tried turning them with my now-soapy hands... and discovered that they were impossible to turn, because there was nothing to grab onto! His stylish cylinders turned out to be completely useless. Turns out knobby handles exist for a reason.

Re: The Flat Sink

#33

Post by idan »

zefhous wrote: post #2

I don't know about the rest of the world, but in the Middle East flat kitchen sinks are standard and ubiquitous. I wouldn't be so quick to assume that it's an aesthetic design decision — I bet it's more of a cultural preference. I don't like flat sinks, but I can see how some people do. In Lebanon they generally build large flat sinks right into the countertop with the same marble. They are much larger than most Amer…

Same in Israel, with the caveat that households which keep kosher often have two sinks side-by-side; one for meat and one for dairy.

Re: The Flat Sink

#34

Post by jamesbritt »

sgdesign wrote: post #29
ebf wrote: post #22

>Put everything on the same plane, and you make it harder to focus on a specific section of the page. Citation needed. Edit: Since I'm getting downvoted, tell me that https://svbtle.com/ content isn't on the same plane and still readable? You can have everything on the same plane and with proper use of whitespace and good typography, it can be very readable. Other examples: http://daringfireball.net/ https://medium.c…

I didn't say that it was impossible to have good content hierarchy with a flat design, I just said it was harder. And "citation needed" is the Hacker News equivalent of YouTube comments: snarky, doesn't bring anything to the debate, and totally irrelevant.

I see "Citation needed" as a reminder that hn is not youtube and that claims that are not obviously anecdotal need backing support.

Re: The Flat Sink

#35

Post by richardwhiuk »

ebf wrote: post #22

>Put everything on the same plane, and you make it harder to focus on a specific section of the page. Citation needed. Edit: Since I'm getting downvoted, tell me that https://svbtle.com/ content isn't on the same plane and still readable? You can have everything on the same plane and with proper use of whitespace and good typography, it can be very readable. Other examples: http://daringfireball.net/ https://medium.c…

On a slightly different note, I find svbtle poor design.

My eyes keep getting distracted by the elements in the top left and right corner of the page.

With both of them, it isn't obvious what will happen if they are pressed. To me, it feels exactly what the author of this article was dismissing - design for design's sake, which make the site less usable than if they'd made it clear what they do.

Re: The Flat Sink

#36

Post by chestnut-tree »

Good points in this article. Another aspect I dislike about many modern bathroom sinks is the position of the tap (faucet).

If the sink has a single mixer tap, it's usually placed in the centre of the basin to give a neat symmetrical look. However, if the bathroom sink is fairly small, the tap protrudes forward and you find you can't lower your head to splash your face without accidentally bumping your head against the tap.

I prefer mixer taps that sit to the side of the basin or even mixer taps where you can swivel the arm left or right.

Re: The Flat Sink

#38

Post by pcrh »

DanBC wrote: post #18
zefhous wrote: post #2

I don't know about the rest of the world, but in the Middle East flat kitchen sinks are standard and ubiquitous. I wouldn't be so quick to assume that it's an aesthetic design decision — I bet it's more of a cultural preference. I don't like flat sinks, but I can see how some people do. In Lebanon they generally build large flat sinks right into the countertop with the same marble. They are much larger than most Amer…

A traditional kitchen sink style is "The Belfast Sink" - an image search shows these to be big and flat style sinks. Not it's not just in the Middle East.

In the UK these kinds of sink were/are often used in conjunction with a smaller bowl that went into the sink [1] (less often these days). The sink has multiple functions in addition to washing cutlery, plates, etc. Sometime quite large things are washed in the sink, however when typical dish-washing is being done, a smaller bowl in placed in the sink to economize on hot water as well as to bring about the other advantages that OP claims for a curved sink.

[1] http://www.lakeland.co.uk/p21352/Sink-Bowls

[2] http://quezi.com/12083

Re: The Flat Sink

#39

Post by pasbesoin »

If you have a flat sink, you need an aerator on the spigot. This doesn't solve everything, but it's a big improvement with respect to splashing.

Re: The Flat Sink

#40

Post by cturner »

I had an slight-tilt shower floor in Laos. No problems with the way the water hit the surface, but there were some problems with the way that the water was draining to a point two feet away from where the drain was.
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