¶ Introduction to iDesign Lab
This is iDesign Lab , a podcast where creativity and curiosity meet style and design . Curator of interiors , furnishings and lifestyles .
Hosted by Tiffany Woolley , an interior designer and a style enthusiast , along with her serial entrepreneur husband Scott , idesign Lab is your ultimate design podcast where we explore the rich and vibrant world of design and its constant evolution in style and trends .
Idesign Lab provides industry insight , discussing the latest trends , styles and everything in between to better help you style your life , through advice from trendsetters , designers , influencers , innovators , fabricators and manufacturers , as well as personal stories that inspire , motivate and excite .
And join us on this elevated , informative and lively journey into the world of all things design .
¶ What Makes Ugly Design Successful
Welcome to the iDesign Lab , where we tackle everything that you can think about having to do with design . Today we're going to talk a little about ugly design .
We're going to have a little bit of a conversation about how ugly design is everywhere in our life and we normally don't even think about it , realize it , we sometimes laugh about it and actually sometimes , and a lot of times , ugly design does very well in retail and does very well as a business , from either logos to design of products or the way things work .
Well , it has a lot to do with form equals function , so sometimes those two things don't equal beauty . So I mean , I think a funny example that kind of gets everybody's brain jogged is the Crocs shoe . Correct , Because obviously they're not attractive in any way , shape or form . However , it is a billion dollar brand right .
So when crocs came out , everyone looked at it , saying what is that ? Yeah ? God how ugly could that be ? Why would someone wear that ? Exactly , but it became uh very , very big , even like most chefs , use some sort of croc . I don't know exactly why , because I think it's ergonomically Ergonomic situation which we've talked about before .
So that's another reason that leads to ugly design too . Ergonomics in general doesn't lead to beautiful design . I think sometimes the beauty is in its cleanliness .
Well , Crocs are comfortable .
And Crocs are clean . It's one material . It's not busy , even though it's got a lot of detail .
¶ Ugly Christmas Sweaters and Nostalgia
It's very simple .
Yeah , so we wanted to spend a few minutes today on this podcast just to talk about ugly design . Like Crocs , as we just mentioned , another one that everyone kind of forgets about , but there's that one time of the year where everyone kind of it comes right back in your face and they call them the ugly Christmas sweaters . Oh , yeah .
I think everybody probably has owned one or worn one and laughed about it . I mean , I've had a few over the years and when I would get one I would say I'm not going to wear this , this is as ugly as it could be .
But then I find myself that it's nostalgic , it's kind of a feeling , I mean , and we operate on feelings in this world we live in nowadays , right , and just think of how many people have had ugly sweater or ugly .
You know sweater parties or you have to attend the party wearing an ugly sweater .
Yeah , they still do . It's like a thing . You're right , and I go back to the form and function but also , as I just said , feelings , because so much about design is a feeling and I know , even in the interior design field , a lot of you know high-end designers that I actually follow and you know look to for reference and inspiration .
You know some people might be like , oh , that's ugly . So beauty really is in the eye of the beholder , correct , and there's some people who find simplicity ugly . There's some people who find , you know , over design ugly . But I kind of go back to , with design is like what has stood the test of time .
So obviously an ugly design is kind of becomes a what do you call like a kitschy part of time . It's like , oh , you remember this or you remember that because of , like you said , ugly sweater or oh , croc generation or like these you know know super modern houses like was , like the Miami Vice , the 80s , and it's kind of coming back again .
So I feel like it's proving to stand the test of time in the long run
¶ Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder
.
But most if you walk into a house that was decorated in the 80s , most people walk into the house going oh my . God , how ugly is this . But back in the 80s that was like the end thing . So cool .
And now , like you do walk into homes and you walk into places that are full of like a time warp and you do be like , oh my goodness , like how can somebody keep this ? And I mean , who ever thought of a round bed being like a great idea ? I mean it's kind of so .
There's some things through generations and through time that we kind of scratch our head at , but for the most part , I feel like so some ugly comes in and out over the years .
So some ugly stuff , yeah , is a fad , but then there's also ugly like , I think , about .
Gapap changed their logo a number of years back and they changed just the font to a Helvetica font and there was such an uproar over what it looked like that literally six days later , gap quickly changed it across all of their retail platforms and stores , putting it back to the logo or the font that we know today .
Well , sometimes , with design or referring to ugly design , it could also be really , in a nutshell , the lack of design . You could even say Apple is an ugly design , the brand of Apple . Their design is very sterile . It's very minimal , there is really no design . It's not like a beauty , but the beauty is in its simplicity .
So it kind of taught us to appreciate it . So sometimes ugly design gets appreciated over time and over , as people's tastes evolve and grow your appreciation .
Well , some of the ugly design is the lack of design or the lack of information
¶ Ugly Design in Technology
. Great example of that is Ikea Ikea and almost everything that you buy , and it's a huge , huge , multi-billion dollar retail company . But when you buy something , almost everything has to be assembled and there's always been the complaints of the fact that there's no instructions .
It's just pictures and it's a very difficult design for many people to follow and many people feel it's a really ugly way of which they've put their instructions together , but they've continued and it's made them successful and it's also because of that .
People have talked about it , people complain about it , but they still— Well , they say as long as they're talking about you , it's a good thing , right , Right ?
So ugly design sometimes really works and is very helpful if it is ugly , because you'll get more PR out of it .
I think that was probably the truth for Crocs as well , and I'm sure there's others along the way . We could consider that fell into that same category .
Right . But then there's other , like the Internet . Think about Craigslist .
Those are websites Correct .
The Craigslist website is a very ugly . I mean there is no design , but it's very successful and it does what it needs . To do with very little and lack of design . Almost it's like a throwback to when the internet first started and they haven't changed it .
I mean , even Google and Facebook when they first started was a really simple , somewhat ugly design , but it came about .
Anytime there's innovation and there's things that are new , you're going to open yourself up to criticism which is ugly , design or function , and I feel like those feelings evolve over time .
And it's same thing , like whenever , like I know , like they've mentioned , like when the Olympics changed their logo in London , and you know just things when people aren't prepared for those changes , all of a sudden it's like oh , that's ugly . I know .
Like when we drive around town and there's a new building going up , you know that you're familiar with , you know that Walgreens used to be on the corner or what have you , but when you're driving around , you'll be like oh that's what they're putting there . Oh , like , how did that pass ? You know the building department . You know after .
I , like , deal with the building department on a daily basis , making our life miserable as we're trying to make things more beautiful , or even when it's historic properties . We're definitely trying to preserve beauty and history . They make our life crazy . But then all this ugly design gets approved . Like , how does that even happen ?
That I don't have an answer for , but if you think about it .
It's a feeling .
But there's also design where some of the ugly design is intentional Spirit Airlines when Spirit Airlines launched , they wanted to be known as an inexpensive
¶ Intentionally Ugly Branding
airline to fly .
So they wanted to look cheap .
Yes , they wanted their logo . They wanted the way in which their planes were painted up . Logoed up was done to look kind of cheap and that would resonate with people going oh , that's an inexpensive airline . Even the way in which the interior of the planes were designed was kind of to make you feel as though this is a Low rent . Yeah .
Again , you said feeling , so I really think a lot of this is feeling , and beauty is in the eyes of the beholder .
Right , but going back to the 1950s with McDonald's , when McDonald's launched .
The Golden Arches , the .
Golden Arches . People didn't quite understand . Okay , mcdonald's and an M , but people thought , like , what kind of logo or design is that ? It didn't make sense . People thought back in the 50s and the early 60s , when McDonald's was starting out , that it was an ugly design .
But people don't think about that today because it's a billion know , a billion dollar international brand .
You know everywhere on the planet well , think of like even the 80s is definitely like hallmarked by neon and you know in the 80s kind of owns ugly design right you know , not just in residential , but just in the overabundance of kind of ugly , I guess .
We'd love to hear from people and what they think is ugly design . If you've got an ugly design that you're familiar with hit us up on Instagram and let us know .
Give us your best ugly .
Yes , absolutely .
Well , that's our tidbit for today .
Thanks for being part of us with some ugly design .
¶ Closing Thoughts on Ugly Design
I Design Labs podcast is an SW Group production in association with the Five Star and TW Interiors . To learn more about I Design Lab or TW Interiors , please visit TWinteriorscom .