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The Flat Sink

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51–60 of 153 posts

Re: The Flat Sink

#53
I'm not sure about bathroom sinks, but my wife and I hate our non-flat kitchen sink. Sure, I understand that it's curved so that it drains water, but there is such thing as too much curve. In our sink, dishes that should be able to be set down properly often end up tipping over or sliding towards the drain. It's actually a big pain as dishes slide and get in the way. Our next sink will most definitely be a flat (flat-ish, perhaps with a very, very small incline).

Re: The Flat Sink

#54
Flat sinks are for putting utensils in and that should be the end of it. Easy to store dishes, pots, and pans. Curved sinks? Not so much. But for the bathroom? An odd choice but to each his own.

Re: The Flat Sink

#55
The analogy doesn't hold water.

A flat sink is a flat sink because it is flat.

A flat design is a flat design because we call it "a flat design."

Skeuomorphism isn't realism - pixels are pixels not leather.

A gradient isn't a shadow.

The flat "add comment" button below does not cause me confusion.

Curving a surface doesn't necessarily make it handle liquid properly.

A poorly designed urinal will splatter if hung too low on the wall.

And speaking of urinals, rounded corners and drop shadows do not make the image of a button art, unless perhaps one hangs it on the wall.

Re: The Flat Sink

#56
post #50

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 h…

I never understood why people put soap on their hands before turning the water on. Why do you do this? Am I missing something here?

Since soap isn't even liquid on dry hands, I guess he started running the sink, then soaped up his hands to start washing, and tried to turn the taps off when the sink became full.

Re: The Flat Sink

#57
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

kitchen sinks are deeper too, so splashes are minimized. Also, my kitchen sink is actually slightly slanted towards the sink hole.

Don't people just use wash buckets inside their kitchen sinks anyway? It would cost me too much otherwise on a water metre in the UK.

Not in the US. I have never seen such a thing.In any case, most people who own homes have dishwashers.

Re: The Flat Sink

#58

The analogy doesn't hold water. A flat sink is a flat sink because it is flat. A flat design is a flat design because we call it "a flat design." Skeuomorphism isn't realism - pixels are pixels not leather. A gradient isn't a shadow. The flat "add comment" button below does not cause me confusion. Curving a surface doesn't necessarily make it handle liquid properly. A poorly designed urinal will splatter if hung too…

Skeuomorphism isn't realism

People argue that "skeuomorphism" isn't the right term for slapping photo textures on everything. It might not be, but obviously "realism" is an even worse term. Leather, chrome, or paper background textures resemble nothing "real" about showing weather forecasts, emails, or search results.

(That isn't to say good design can't use photo textures, but even many of the better examples tend toward the overblown "realism" of CD-ROM software from twenty years ago.)

Re: The Flat Sink

#59
post #50

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 h…

I never understood why people put soap on their hands before turning the water on. Why do you do this? Am I missing something here?

You can use liquid soap. And for dry soap I tend to just open the water a couple of seconds, close it, soap my hands and then wash it away again.

There's really no need to let the water run all the time, that's a waste.

Re: The Flat Sink

#60
Ahh, posts like this are like magnets for front-page HN. Mm, maybe I'm just a bit jealous. I should buy a boat. Or start a blog of my own.
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