Bad Design is Trendy

I think we’re surrounded by bad design because bad design is the standard people are used to and anything different is “weird” for “normal” people. I’ve been working with the UB gym on some different projects and it is unbelievable how un-flexible the department is with design concepts. Where there is crisp white space, they want to blast pictures everywhere in order to “minimize all that space.” People are so used to the trendiness of bad design it sometimes seems like good design is doomed. However, I think on an individual level people are more likely to take notice of good design because it does stand out, and it is different. As I was reading Adrian Shaugnessy’s words about the wine and the wine glass it made me smile because to be perfectly honest, I care about both the wine and the glass. True, I don’t want to drink a nice vintage out of my shoe but I do want a nice glass because drinking good wine is an experience. Without both components the experience is not as enjoyable. Relating this back to graphic design—when I look at a logo, a billboard, a brochure, I think about the designer behind it. These materials don’t come from nowhere—good design, bad design, I want to know why the decisions made, were made.