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Designers, what is “taste”?
I’ve been reading @kocienda ‘s book Creative Selection about his time at Apple in the 2000’s working on the software that powered the original iPhone and iPad.
I was particularly struck by a section near the end where he discusses the word taste...
I’ve been reading @kocienda ‘s book Creative Selection about his time at Apple in the 2000’s working on the software that powered the original iPhone and iPad.
I was particularly struck by a section near the end where he discusses the word taste...
Ken characterises taste as:
“the ability to form opinions with your gut that you can also justify with your head”
Building this takes time and practice however, and in his book Ken emphasises the importance of studying great work from the past to build a personal “catalog”
“the ability to form opinions with your gut that you can also justify with your head”
Building this takes time and practice however, and in his book Ken emphasises the importance of studying great work from the past to build a personal “catalog”
In his words:
“When I study the past, I make a point of deciding what I like and sometimes this this built-up catalog of refined-like responses about past works finds a suitable outlet and a natural expression in my present-day work.”
“When I study the past, I make a point of deciding what I like and sometimes this this built-up catalog of refined-like responses about past works finds a suitable outlet and a natural expression in my present-day work.”
“Taste” is, of course, an idea that tends to inspire controversy. Associated with elitism and snobbery, the concept can play into a characterisation of the design industry as a priesthood...
...handing down arcane or secret knowledge from master to tutor with little regard for those beyond the temple walls.
So I think it’s refreshing to see the way Ken reframes all that. For him the development of taste is instead driven by our curiosity about the wider world. The process of learning about and digesting its lessons is how we cultivate our instincts....
Rather than an expression of exclusivity, “taste” emerges instead when we embrace the world.
