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The age of average

alexmurrell.co.uk

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Re: The age of average

#281

Post by JohnFen »

renewiltord wrote: post #265
JohnFen wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Can't we just enjoy having nice things? Even if those things have converged aesthetically? They've converged because we think they're nice. But just because aesthetics have "converged" doesn't mean that everyone finds them pleasing. There's quite a lot of those converged aesthetics that I find unpleasant. Surely, there's still room for variety.

Things only exist if they are made. The ubiquity of this convergence then implies that those who make have similar tastes and those who have dissimilar tastes lack some fundamental capacity to construct.

I think it implies that the "convergence" is toward the lowest common denominator. That is, a design that avoids displeasing most people rather than pleasing most people.

It's a cost-savings measure. It also is, I think, a large reason why the modern world tends to lack aesthetic excellence.

Re: The age of average

#283

Post by jcanyoh »

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…

> Sure, you can design electric toothbrush branding that "stands out", but it's probably going to result in less sales. Because most people don't want to express their unique personality via their electric toothbrush, they just want a nice slim white object that blends into their sink area.

I’d generally agree with you here but there are exceptions. The company ‘Liquid Death’ is yet another company selling water, but due to their branding and viral marketing have made drinking water seem ‘cool’.

Re: The age of average

#284

Post by majormajor »

hoosieree wrote: post #194
ryandrake wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

There are a lot of good reasons for "the AirBNB look. White walls reflect ambient light and can enhance existing light sources. This can help make up for small (i.e: cheap) windows or limited light fixtures. Natural wood is durable but not hard and cold like metal or glass, nor will it break down and end up permeating your cell membranes like plastic. Exposed beams make ceilings more interesting visually but also dam…

It's often just fashion, not actual affinity for natural materials.

The "AirBnB look" IME is usually engineered wood (aka bits of wood + liberal amounts of adhesive) floor, or even vinyl (tile if they're fancy), not natural wood. Natural wood scratches too easily and is more expensive to deal with generally. So for a rental? Nah. But yeah in actually older places sometimes it's natural wood liberally coated with basically-plastic clear coat. ;)

A lot of the exposed beams are also not "real" structural beams. Often they're plastic too! Stuff like this. Lower maintenance, doncha know. https://www.architecturaldepot.com/BM.html

Re: The age of average

#285

Post by davidxc »

mdorazio wrote: post #143
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…

You make a good point, but I think there's a qualifier that convergence in this case is convergence to mass-market appeal. Everything looks the same because that's the aesthetic that most appeals to ~75% of the population. What's missing is that there seems to be an increasing lack of alternative designs to appeal to the other ~25%.

I don't think "most appeals" is accurate. It's the aesthetic that results in the most profit, which just means that it's optimal in terms of making tradeoffs between level of appeal to various consumer segments, price points, cost to manufacture, etc.

But maximizing profit and the tradeoffs that result from that are definitely not equivalent to most appealing to the general population.

Re: The age of average

#286

Post by sacnoradhq »

0. The vehicle similarity has a name: jellybean cars.

1. So this explains why hipsters all look the same too.

2. If one desired to create different enough to look different, then they should stop looking at everyone and everything else to minimize bias. Forget the outside world and what they might think. It also reduces personal discontent and misery by avoiding comparisons with others. Perhaps the Amish have something by choosing purposefully plain almost uniforms as the antithesis of Instagram.

Re: The age of average

#287

Post by rfwhyte »

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…

This take is so wrong as it utterly discounts the affect of mass market brand advertising, a trillion dollar global industry. People's tastes haven't "Converged" they've been manipulated by corporations to be whatever is most profitable.

Re: The age of average

#288

Post by ssnistfajen »

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 don't think human society has ever evolved past what this article would describe as "average" at any point of its existence since recorded history began. Sure there were bursts of "creativity" and "diversity" at some points but they were usually just experimental prototypes that haven't yet been tested by market selection. Carcinisation is an example of this in nature.

Cars looking all the same isn't really a new thing. The illusion of variety in the 1980s-2000s era was just old cars not yet being phased out by regulation changes. Modern cars have far better function at everything than older cars while only an extremely small price on aesthetics was paid in exchange.

Re: The age of average

#290

Post by sacnoradhq »

hoosieree wrote: post #194
ryandrake wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

There are a lot of good reasons for "the AirBNB look. White walls reflect ambient light and can enhance existing light sources. This can help make up for small (i.e: cheap) windows or limited light fixtures. Natural wood is durable but not hard and cold like metal or glass, nor will it break down and end up permeating your cell membranes like plastic. Exposed beams make ceilings more interesting visually but also dam…

I'm surprised they didn't call it Architectural Digest look.

Empty palatial interiors staged to appear on magazine covers, but not necessarily lived in by actual humans. Sometimes, I wonder if the the AD places are empty investment homes / porn shoot locations.

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