Why All Products Look The Same: Industrial Design Trends

[@Design.Theory]

Enroll in my online industrial design course, Form Fundamentals. bit.ly/335vsqO ...I'll teach you about visual storytelling, design language, and form. It will ultimately make you a designer that is better prepared for the professional world.

[@carlosdlguerra]

Funily enough, youtube sugested me to watch a guy telling me that algorithms are showing everyone the same design style

[@Design.Theory]

I have also realized the irony of this ;)

[@faizanbaber]

exactly what i thought

[@BlastinRope]

The 'algo' wields vast amount of power of the direction culture takes, it is fully analogous to our collective subconcious.

[@billjamal4764]

KZbin recommends me videos talking about how everyone should stop using KZbin and that Google is evil😂

[@SuperAmit010]

Oh the irony

[@lualdiz]

When i watched futuristic movies i used to find quite unrealistic how everything in the future was depicted as being aesthetically homogenous, but now it seems like it's where we're heading to.

[@jasondashney]

Great point.

[@lualdiz]

@Narja Minority Report for example, where everything in the future has the same clean, clear aesthetic.

[@mattwhornby]

And those movies probably influenced a lot of the designers of today!

[@callumnash3236]

Design tends to be homogenous as a result of the profit motive. It's risky to try novel aesthetic designs and generally more profitable to be conservative, and take ques from the competition, offering only slight differentiation. Especially as companies move from small scale passion projects to large scale enterprises, the function of the company changes to being about returning profits to shareholders more so than creating innovation. I've worked in studios where I've developed better designs that were cheaper and more sustainable, and these were rejected by the client simply because they wanted to copy what they'd done the previous year.

[@Vysair]

@Narja we are in dystopia already though only at baby step

[@HamiltonProvonsha]

I’m really hoping there can be a resurgence of intricate beauty in design. Think of old world furniture and pottery, with little flowers and vines painted on nearly everything. Think of the hand carved wood and stone. No one was thinking, “what’s the most cost effective way to do this?” but rather “how can I make this beautiful?” There was some faint echo of that in the arts and crafts movement, but where have we gone since then? So many of these new trends are sickeningly bland and devoid of that human factor.

[@cryonim]

more synthetic and less of that human detail eh ? It's a shame how easy it is to make things using modern tools and sculpt things easily and yet instead of going for more intricate models we turned 180 and thought "how can i save cost on this" to make simpler models. I guess ease is a curse in this situation.

[@thomas.thomas]

If one just speaks of form, it is also easier to clean simple ones

[@theothertonydutch]

Give me your phone, I will happily draw on it.

[@greentriumph1643]

If I could change a word I think that what we want is intrinsic beauty. Art is good. Some art in design, for beauty and cultural relevancy is important. When did our profession become the enemy of art and artistry to worship itself on the alter of minimalism?

[@1Kaisermerlin]

Just one thing. Revival Furniture. Its not that intricate cant be mass produced and an aestethic that was never the issue.

[@toboloso]

There's also an aspect of globalization. The ability for designers from all over the world to easily view the most popular global design diminishes local variation.

[@Design.Theory]

Very true. Algorithmic populism is really only one piece of the puzzle. In truth, it's many things.

[@_sqrrl3299]

* while showing a rendering of a mechanical keyboard: * "Community of obsessively passionate users" Boy could you ever not be more right...

[@quasarcreator]

As someone who just got into the custom keyboard scene, I thought the same thing and had a good laugh about it

[@andyzhang9928]

tbh RAMA's product advertisement videos are just nutty to watch

[@bobsykes]

Exactlly the same problem in the music industry. Spotify, Apple Music, etc., all promote tunes that the average listener picks, meaning a narrower and narrower selection of music is offered to a new listener looking for somethingh on a platform. We used to have Radio DJ's in big music cities, and college radio DJs, that made their life's work exploring and finding new things that they thought had a chance, and exposing them to people. Losing that is a real setback.

[@Design.Theory]

I love this comment. Thank you

[@thomas.thomas]

Check out Merzbow and the harsh noise genre if you'd like something new

[@volundrfrey896]

I disagree, most people used to listen to the major radio stations. And those stations typically played the same lowest common denominator crap, most radio dj's was and are hired because they can keep people listening and not for selecting the music. You can still find people talking about and exploring music online today.

[@ryanmish4961]

As a devil’s advocate, today places like TikTok are serving that purpose more and more

[@ThePorkChannel]

I disagree. Spotify is recommending me loads of small bands with less than 1000 listeners a month

[@TheBIBco]

That bit about how finding design trends on Pinterest actually homogenizes our design styles because we all end up looking at the same images is a really interesting insight!! Thanks for sharing

[@SpudSpudoni]

I've definitely had my eye on this phenomenon for a few years now. It seems like we've now hit the point of a serious feedback loop. I've always had some problem with "designing for instagram" vs "designing for purpose", and I wonder how a few classes of designers in the coming years viewing and adding to this, will change how we approach the creative process. I think the most damning thing to our industry and searching for ideas or inspiration has been our commodification of 'likes'. Even the top designers and brands on instagram and similar, are all looking for new engaging content, and even the biggest at times (ex. Yanko) will post pretty garbage ideas and processes but will still get thousands of likes and interactions. How is a young designer supposed to see through that and understand that just because something has thousands of likes, doesn't mean it's good? Does a design with 25-100 likes mean its bad? I guess that's something the next generations of designers will have to decipher and understand for themselves, but I think there's a conversation to be had, especially in school, about how industrial design may evolve in the next 5-10 years.

[@Design.Theory]

Occasionally, I'll ask my students to show me a design that they find especially great and tell me why they like it. A lot of the time, the design is total garbage from a usability perspective. There's no real way to know this from an image unless you have experience as a designer. I think that the ability to discern good design from design that looks good on social media (notice the distinction) simply comes with time. I think that these social media platforms should be viewed as tools. They are unthinking and uncaring. The platforms simply respond to what gets engagement. They can be abused, or they can be leveraged. Speaking for myself, I leverage the hell out of social media as much as I possibly can. I deliberately pick thumbnails and choose video titles that I believe will get clicks. I'm not creative with it. I just copy what I see works with other channels. But I always make sure that the CONTENT of the video is meaningful and presents at least a somewhat thought-provoking point of view. My point in saying this is that I leverage the algorithm to the best of my abilities, but I don't let it dictate my creativity where it matters most. It's not going away any time soon, so you need to embrace it rather than ignore it. I think that's a healthy approach to social media platforms as it relates to design. Just my humble opinion.

[@SpudSpudoni]

@@Design.Theory I think having discourse or open conversations with students about the design world through social media is a great learning exercise. I agree with the thought that social media is a tool you can use to your advantage if you want to. There's plenty of ways to network and connect with other like minded creatives, and promote your own work. I definitely do it with hashtags myself. I guess it again just comes down to intention for me. There's nothing wrong inherently with finding success from badly designed, well rendered images, and there's nothing wrong with promoting it from a larger account. I just wonder how much of the zeitgeist will change over time. For HR, or people hiring designers at a company with no real design background, looking at design through the lens of these kind of social media posts, how will the hiring process change? Will we start getting portfolios with more flash, and less substance? Not being negative at all about it, but it is an interesting topic to think about, especially in a classroom setting.

[@mylou1231]

@@SpudSpudoni This is a very interesting conversation. I'm going back to school next hear in industrial design, and this is exactly what I want to know before I even start learning to at least have a critical mind when it comes to inspiration.

[@OKTPZ]

One of the most crucial things my course leader said when I started my Product & Industrial Design BA last year was that our course is only ranked 6th in the world because in order to be ranked higher they’d have to meet the demands of the industry and they’re focused instead on the future, both in a personal and industrial context. I knew i’d chosen the right course at that moment.

[@AmstradExin]

Feedback loop. That's what I also noticed.

[@jakx2ob]

Consistently coming up with actually novel designs that are good takes skilled people and a lot of time. Even then it still takes more marketing effort than when adapting already popular design patterns. As a user it's also an advantage when multiple brands produce similar looking things. This way when I already got a couple of things from brand A, the thing from brand B won't look out of place. For a company creating a completely new design only makes sense if they think they will be able to sell an entire product line at a premium price. Strong brand recognition.

[@braunarsch]

As an industrial designer, i've been wondering if there was anyone who would do discussions like this.... glad i found this video. subbed!

[@Design.Theory]

Thanks for checking it out!!

[@drebone1986]

It's funny that after fighting against a dated looking future design we somehow all settled on a 1960s futuristic look, every piece of tech now is either extremely round or very square, nothing else and also two colors smashed together, can't remember the last triangle or octagon since the iPhone premiered, everybody bit them and Samsung later and never looked back

[@Laotzu.Goldbug]

Alex I'll take _Neoliberal Consumerist Democracy As An Aesthetic_ for $500

[@wilb.-wilbertvanveldhuizen5664]

Yes, I've definitely seen this in my field as well. I've been a 3D animation and Motiongraphic designer for about 7 years now. And a lot of designers in my field have started to design things that do well on social media more and more. It, for instance, limits people to certain styles and projects that aren't too time-consuming. They start making more things like ''colorful moving blob animation-loops'' instead of projects like shortfilms that actually tell a cool/inspired story. Which in my opinion is a bit of a shame...

[@Design.Theory]

You can tell a story with colorful blobs. But I know what you mean. It’s very much focused on striking visuals. I think that the more this trend gets cemented, the easier it will be for others to stand out by going against it. Let the others follow the trend, and let the select few trailblazers carve a new path

[@dannybrandon2822]

Working in the 3D field myself I say it is a shame, but on the other hand: You, just like me, know how the industry works. Especially in this field if you want to gain attention, you kinda have to do what is trendy right now. And even though the job description says "motion graphic artist" or "3D Artist", we are still more often like designers in some way and always in dependency on what the customer wants.

[@tomatom9666]

A big big part of this is that instagram specifically tailors it's algorithms to favor frequent and regular content uploads. So, a person who works on a masterpiece for 2 years, will collectively WAAAAAY less engagement and feedback than a person who uploads twice a week for 2 years. The amount of eyes on the short term projects collectively totally outnumbers the long term project. And since the survival of a creative person currently depends on the engagement of masses of people (statistically increasing the likelihood of finding clients and getting paid), it only becomes feasible to focus on long term projects at two points in a person's life-- In the beginning, when there are no stakes, and at the end, when they have already built a secure life where they are allowed to spend years on something without immediate fruit. I myself am in the middle, like most people here. I need to keep working hard and creating sufficient engagement, so that I can eventually create a surplus of financial assets, savings, and reputation in the industry, so that I can take a step back and actually make something incredible. Of course, in the mean time I try my best to create stuff that I think is good, but it's crucial that I finish it in a manner of days, not weeks, months or years.

[@TwixtheFox]

I think a good idea that would solve this type of issue would be allowing a "diverse filter" to the search filters, showing you tons of different types of images.

[@Design.Theory]

Love that idea. I think AI and more complex algorithms could save us from this as well.

[@willbroadway]

Also open stuff up in incognito mode

[@TwixtheFox]

@@willbroadway True! But most things pushed to the front pages of any type of social platforms are very screened and seemingly hand picked / stuff that has a lot of algorithm traction. It's content that the algorithm sees is getting a lot of traction and thus it pushes it to the front, and continues to do so because that's what brings people in. Therefore it's not as diverse. But it does help a bit! Then there's also some platforms that straight up ask you stuff you're interested in when you sign up, which I think is kind of neat if they keep the algorithms more loose.

[@Rafagafanhotobra]

Funny is that, as much groundbreaking the looks of the Cybertruck are, algorythms must also have helped them to forge the idea, as the trend of 80's retro-futurism has been hyped for the last 10 years. So it is wildly different, but also follows a mainstream trend.

[@onkarlanke7225]

Thats so true about high quality renders. We dont make these in practical & clients expecting these nowadays for everything. We have to explain thats not necessary to communicate ideas.

[@BeIlG]

For the rendering of mock ups, I completely agree. As an illustrator, I work with lots of private sector clients. They believe most of the time that the finalized rendering and draft are the same thing. They do not realize the amount of effort and cost that would create and isn't necessary as long as there is a final product I have made is up to a polished level they like.

[@Design.Theory]

Yeah, a lot of it comes down to laying out expectations ahead of time. Usually with a proposal, I'll show them what each phase will look like in terms of fidelity.

[@JediasHertz]

This is happening in almost every artistic areas. Music, Cinema, Poetry, etc... They are all suffering from this homogenization ditacted by the algorthims.

[@Project-Air]

Really enjoying binging these videos since I discovered your channel earlier today! Subbed!

[@Design.Theory]

Thank you! It means a lot coming from a fellow KZbinr. Just checked out your channel. Cool stuff!

[@Project-Air]

@@Design.Theory Cheers!

[@OrionAerospace]

Ayyy fancy seeing you here! We just got recommended this too 😂 really cool videos!

[@Project-Air]

@@OrionAerospace Omg!

[@AsantePE]

@@OrionAerospace was q

[@NicoFromTheWaves]

I’ve been a brand strategist and designer for around 15 years, and noticed the same trend towards ‘blandification’. There seems to finally be some pushback, as seen in examples such as Burberrys logo, as well as heritage maximalist brands in the luxury space. Given that many mid market consumer trends echo luxury directions, perhaps we’ll see a greater shift… love your channel by the way!

[@peterhub1]

I totally agree. Our preferences are influenced by so many things. Both by what we are forced to experience and what we choose to experience.

[@sohailrahman735]

that's why my master taught me don't look for inspiration from social media like pinterest, insta, behance, dribble etc. what you are seeing is other people's solution of their problems in design. try to figure out what's your or clients problem & solve that with your very own designs, & if you can't get it then look for inspiration from nature, arts & music etc. randomize your thoughts in design.

[@Design.Theory]

exactly!

[@kaitlint3987]

You're definitely on to something. I always figured it was us becoming culturally stuck due to our idea of what futuristic/modern design was,most of that language comes from the 60's and 70's bruener and such. Mix that with how much cheaper these simpler form factors are to mass produce

[@dezukaful]

Really interesting video. Made me realize how there's also a parallel with trends in concept art. Where a certain skill level is achieved a lot of stuff looks really similar.

[@Design.Theory]

Thank you for watching! Another thing is that if we're all using similar tools, it only makes sense that the output/final product will be similar. That's why it's so important to diversify your skillset.

[@sethhalloran1438]

Algorithm's = feedback loops that lead to a consensus on a topic for the majority of a population. The biases we introduce in these algorithms is a really interesting subject as well. Great video.

[@Design.Theory]

Agreed. I could easily do an entire series on this.

[@xDaShaanx]

I think it is because of Over-simplification. I read a comment somewhere that in 10 years all we are going to see is circle and square as logos.

[@orti1283]

you're bringing very high quality, somewhat concise material (I hate the new trend of going near or past 20 mins for something that could be exposed in half or a third of the time). Also unique, I hope your popularity skyrockets soon

[@Design.Theory]

Thank you! I try to keep my content super densely packed and bite-sized, like a neutron star. I don't usually succeed, but sometimes I get close.

[@SeidenFisk]

Thanks for your videos, I'm just a CAD hobbyist but I always gain some new knowledge or understanding of industrial design from you

[@Design.Theory]

That's the goal ;) Thank you so much for watching, I appreciate it.

[@BenCaesar]

Great point on being aware of the algorithms selection process!

[@vitoria.no.c]

I love this discussion. We do need to talk about the impact algorithms have on our loves

[@Design.Theory]

It goes way beyond design, believe me!

[@SamRainer]

Great video and great take! I think this is absolutely true for a lot of things. There are so many photographers these days who only get their inspiration algorithmically fed to them and all end up creating nearly identical content. The sad irony of course is that they succeed at the behest of the very same algorithm and continue the cycle.

[@Design.Theory]

So true! I've noticed it across many fields, both creative and otherwise.

[@princegoatcheese9379]

I believe this trend is more inline with what you mentioned near the beginning of the video: standardization of parts. The appeal is no matter what car or armchair or food processor you own, there will be a part you need to fix it should it break down. This is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it's great knowing that if anything broke on a product, it'll be very easy to analyze and repair. On the other hand, this leads to more homogenized designs. Vehicle manufacturers are probably the biggest culprit of the homogenization design trend, as nearly all new vehicles I see being rolled out for consumers look similar. Right now, it's hard for me to differentiate between car models in a parking lot. I don't mean "everything in the past was better", I mean designers are taking advantage of standardization to the point where designs become harder to distinguish.

[@NicholasBaker]

One of your best videos to date!!

[@Design.Theory]

Wow, thanks Nick!

[@nlsantiesteban]

I think that these questions are pursued in depth by various fields including critical theory, visual theory, film studies, lit studies, etc. This reminds me of questions posed by Walter Gropius and the Bauhaus school.

[@TradieTrev]

I love classic electric switches and outlets; The design hasn't changed much in the last 100 years. All I care about for my customers is having a good quality part that can last the test of time; Care little for how the device looks but more about function. Whenever given a choice to consumers on appearance most typically can't justify the extra costs of having something designer than standard.

[@parameshranjith3295]

Totally explains to me why it was always about Renderings, high fidelity sketches in Instagram

[@Design.Theory]

Yup. It's what gets clicks.

[@phoebehill953]

I love the phrase “algorithmic populism”.

[@designbykaroline]

Great video John! Definitely agree with you - designers are a bubble just like any other and like all bubbles they slowly become homogenous due to the lack of new input. Universities joining social media and actively trying to grow their accounts are a big part of this as well in my opinion. When we sell knowledge via easily digestible "pretty pictures", we miss the point of education (and design for that matter). But essentially, our entire society is built around a constant stream of pretty pictures, glorifying average lives and average designs - I am going to stop myself here :'D

[@Design.Theory]

yeah, as you probably already noticed, I featured your work. So congrats on that. One thing I wanted to make clear is that these algorithms aren't bad, necessarily. It's easy to vilify them. You just need to accept them for what they are and use them as a tool. The more people rely on trends, the easier it will be for you to smash through the norms and do something crazy and different.

[@Theprashantrao]

Hands down the best video ever!!!!!! So apt, the whole idea of super qualitative / realistic rendering also leads to the whole idea of being left out, FOMO? Making you feel that you aren’t really good until you are rounding off the surfaces. Well the truth is otherwise!! Concept art is infact the best inspiration. Thank you so much for an amazing video, vents out every product designer’s feeling very clearly.

[@Design.Theory]

Wow thanks for checking out the video and for the kind words!

[@abhikdas8464]

Nowadays very few industrial designers are raw and direct, most of them are pretentious and over dependent on software renders to make their product look dreamy instead of frugal and functional for so called "portfolio" enhancement. Gone are the good old days.

[@aboseds9384]

That's what my studio's design manager said a few days back 😢

[@707bear3]

Yeah, I think the new products are boring now

[@MrUratox]

great video as always. When I started to work, I was surprised that none of my colleagues took the time to create good renderings for the client. i thought they would waste a chance to sell the concept. Now that I am involved in numerous projects, often only screenshots directly from the CAD are used for communication. Guess i will need to rerender everything for my Portfolio xD

[@ShaneSpenceDesign]

Great video and very well articulated points! I often find I'm easily influenced by algorithms on Pinterest and IG, so have been trying to source inspiration from nature and various industries. I think trying these form and cmf trends for practice exercises is harmless, as long as you remember to keep them separate from your design work.

[@Design.Theory]

I agree with you. It's good to know what's going on, but you shouldn't necessarily integrate it into your professional work. Sometimes it makes senses to, sometimes it doesn't. It's all context-dependent.

[@The_CGA]

So, what you’re saying is… Designers don’t use privacy-focused browsers like Brave and Firefox?

[@FrancisLukesh]

Most modern browsers, including Chrome and Edge, have robust privacy controls, including blocking fingerprinting and other tracking strategies; and just to note that Brave is also a Chromium-based browser. The thing is that you have to take active steps to use these privacy features, and doing so affects your browsing experience. In other words, some personalization and tracking is a good thing. In my opinion, it's more an issue about being intentional about how you use the tools you use than the tools themselves. In other words, just using Firefox or Brave doesn't make your experience inherently better or more private by default, and depending on context, you may want to enable some tracking, and disable it in others.

[@The_CGA]

The point is to say, if someone has trackers following them around everywhere they go, they will get spoon-fed a prejudiced stream of content as opposed to 'the real internet.' Within the context of industrial design and trends, this is key to one's sense of individual creativity. The worm-eating-its-own-tail problem of cohort tracking within the context of creativity in design is the subject of this video. Turning some stuff off or on, one will inevitably end up leaving a breadcrumb trail back to the data accumulators that are FB and AdSense, which then feed cohort data back up the chain. for those of us that seek to create content or objects for other people, Trackers belong off. obviously login tokens and stuff are a normal part of existing

[@LameCorvette]

Your channel is so awesome!! The level of production quality is through the roof. I can't believe you only have 17k subs. You deserve many. more, hopefully you'll explode soon.

[@Design.Theory]

I only had 300 subs a year ago :) Hopefully it continues to grow. Thank you so much for watching!

[@cryonim]

I like how everything in this video is laid out in a clean and systematic way, nice design!

[@Design.Theory]

Thank you very much!

[@WarlordXial]

This is the video that earns the subscription. Really useful and rare information and it’s saddening / interesting.

[@amolongweno598]

Kindle has recently added a suggestion menu called "different from my recent pruchases" which seems great but is probably also different in the same way

[@kenkioqqo]

Entertaining and informative video! Am just about to watch the next one from Design Theory.

[@SamDoesDesign]

I love these essay style videos! All really great points

[@Design.Theory]

I'm so happy you like them, Sam. I look forward to seeing more vids from you ;)

[@KingsBic]

This has been going on with Pop (Popular) Music influenced and played on radios by corporations etc. Until someone breaks the Mold and everyone copies off that

[@Design.Theory]

Yup. I'm a musician and I have noticed it. There was a whole video called "the death of melody" on KZbin. You should check it out if you haven't already. It was the inspiration for my other video called the "Death of Detail"

[@Cestial]

As someone passionate about custom keyboards, that little bit at the end was a great example! Thanks, KZbin for recommending this to me :D

[@Design.Theory]

Yeah they're definitely a fun little niche. Thanks for watching that far into the video!

[@ace5]

Love your videos man! Can't believe KZbin didn't suggest you earlier :))

[@Design.Theory]

Thank you!!!

[@NevRS32]

It's funny because I usually go to the 80's to try and find anything "new". The future of that time is so much different than what we usually see today. Great video brother. Subscribed!

[@Design.Theory]

So true! Thanks for the sub :)

[@jefflhama]

I think we lose when we don't talk about the mobilization of imaginary of a big brand. Since iPhone, apple used all their tatics and money to be a type of messiah and homogenized all general public design. To the point that some people think that the only way is the apple way, and it affected from products to ui and ux.

[@Design.Theory]

Agree. I notice many clients asking to "make it like apple"

[@ReastArtZ]

Shoutout to you having a very differentiated viewpoint! I hate these video in which people do nothing but whine about things they personally don't like instead of critically looking at the reasons why things are like that. (Minimalistic Logos, ...). Really enjoy your videos!

[@javiergarciafelipe9392]

Thank you very very much. I was aware of the social media and algorithm dinamic, despite I was using it for knowing what is out there an diferenciating muy ideas from that. I suppose that unconsciously you are being influenced by them anyway. Looking for inspiration outside internet seems obvious, but I rarely do it, I should do it more often. Great video by the way, your chanel is becoming an undismissable reference.

[@Design.Theory]

Glad it was helpful! Your positive comments are what keep me going :)

[@ДенисПлахотя-о2ч]

Good to understand logical patterns of people's perceivement

[@benwhite8157]

This seems to be the defining trait of adapters and cables on Amazon. -silver 'metal' case -black plastic edging and inlays -'gold' contacts for cable ends

[@warcriminal911]

that was the best sub pitch I’ve ever heard I’m not even into design but I subbed

[@gluedmango]

Rama Works is the perfect example of gutsy business model that revolves around industrial design in a very, very niche market, that is premium mech keyboard (although this may change in the future, who knows). The team deserves all the attention (and orders!) they get right now.

[@davidsinclairmccabe8840]

Thoroughly enjoyed this video! Really interesting and hepful as a product design student!

[@Design.Theory]

Glad it was helpful!

[@teguh.hofstee]

One thing I actually kind of like about this trend is that it helps things blend into the background so that the things I actually care about can pop by showcasing their design. I don't need or want my humidifier to complete for visual attention alongside a toaster, but at the same time it's also unfortunate that a vast majority is tailoring to this average so sometimes your only options are average or nothing.

[@jakobresch1847]

Amazing video - thanks for opening my eyes to this!

[@Design.Theory]

Glad you enjoyed it! I had a lot of fun making this one.

[@ayaangodil645]

This needs to be seen by more people!

[@SanketPatil001]

So Well put together !

[@devilichus]

Rounded corner is awesome. Rounded corner is my hardline. Rounded corner is a wonder, Rounded corner is timeless, Rounded corner is honest, Rounded corner is rounded and that's what makes it awesome. And accept that rounded corners can make most of the stuff look cool and complete the composition.

[@pedroroque8681]

Markets work with trends and plateaus. Once the big fish get comfortable, a Trojan Horse newcomer brings disruption and takes their marketshare, resulting on a new trend or period of experimentation as brands compete once again for a place under the sun. The smart whales buy the newcomers in order to absorb impact, the arrogant ones get comfortable and lose as time passes. Another issue is the source of inspiration becoming unified through AI and algorhytmic platforms such as Pinterest or Instagram (which is particularly worrisome). If all creative minds use the same sources of 'inspiration' to create their own projects, the results will be pretty under whelming. Traditional contextualised research and experimentation has always been the seed for disruptive design and must be kept as such. This is the issue of globalisation. It kills identity and actual differentiation - But doesn't need to, if it gets regulated properly.

[@siddharth4404]

your follow the trends you become a part of the herd.

[@khj5582]

More and more of design is done in China for "no-name" brands, which are desperate to appear cool and hip. And if there is one thing the Chinese are good at...

[@Design.Theory]

My next video is about this

[@ralphlaurencelopezdeleon3539]

its communism. yep

[@MaseraSteve2]

Heh, finally somebody mentioned it. Instead of ripping existing products they may ripped a concept from online designer instead...

[@travdump209]

That explains so much about why I didn't quite vibe with RAMA's keyboards!

[@free_spirit1]

In my opinion the problem is two-fold. Apologies ahead for the long comment. 1.) Consumers have gotten very attuned to each other's opinions such that any company that breaks the mold gets severely punished. Just look at how angry the hivemind got with BMW over a grille. They made a large grille and suddenly even car trend channels were talking about how BMW had completely lost the plot. Make two steps back and realise what a silly thing that is to get upset about, even in the context of car aesthetics. It is viral and toxic. Us designers are guilty about this as well. I think social media has had a great influence on the hyperawareness of what should and shouldn't be considered good design, to the point that, like you said, the only mold-breaking designs that are rewarded are those that get adopted by counterculture groups as a form of protest. 2.) Some designers have forgotten that aesthetic taste is maybe 98% a learned thing, just like you learn to like coffee or bitters or wine. The human brain is so incredibly malleable that it can be turned into a machine that does anything. Yet I've met people who truly believe that neuroaesthetics is a real thing. As someone who believes in the importance of diversity of aesthetics in art and design I am very concerned about this trend. Step back and embrace that aesthetics is a complete fabrication of the human brain. Make aesthetics lose all meaning. Only then can you be free. What is left is only the functionality which is what really matters. We agree on this. Note: I do think some small part of aesthetics taste is probably incorporated into our physiology. The analogy for food taste would be how humans naturally like sweet taste because it has a survival advantage. For aesthetics it would be something along the lines of "does it resemble a snake or a predator?". But other than that it is all learned. I also am a bit uncomfortable in putting so much blame in the shoes of the consumer. Aesthetic preferences are after all a very subjective thing and if consumers want a landscape of bland products that is absolutely their own prerogative. I do get a bit annoyed however at the relentless hyvemind bashing of anything that doesn't conform. I get a very creepy vibe as if people had stopped thinking for themselves and aren't able to look at individual designs in the context of design history. What was considered the peak of automotive design in the 1980s now looks to us all the same as the rest that came from the 1980s. Thanks for the videos. I spend a lot of time thinking about aesthetics so I find it interesting to hear someone else's perspective, even when I don't agree. I wish I was a better writer so I could make these comments more concise. TL,DR Aesthetic taste is a learned thing. More exposure means less openness to diversity. My theory anyway.

[@Design.Theory]

I sincerely appreciate your thorough responses. You make some interesting points. While I would agree that most aesthetic choices are dictated by cultural norms, many of those norms are deeply engrained over hundreds or even thousands of years. I think that's why a lot of beautiful things are viewed as beautiful even thousands of years after they've been made.

[@kornaros96]

That's the truth. They have lost the plot. Their new stuff makes the E46 compact look absolute beaut. Gone are the hoffmeister kinks, here's grills big as beaver teeths, and then someone took stuff of highly questionable quality, given a sharp thing and told "swing wildly". Here's how you design a BMW: simple lines interconnecting front and rear, hoffmeister kink, and reasonable sized grill with vertical vanes. And driver centric cockpit. WITH RWD (okay and AWD too)!

[@ideatorx]

The university I go to does the exact opposite focusing on anything but high fidelity renders or really deep technical rendering knowledge, and I appreciate it. I know im basically unemployable because my portfolio is based on research not glossy renderings but I'm okay with that.

[@Emma4dfuture]

What university are you attending?

[@zzz5602]

You could say they're getting "oversimplified"

[@axelkusanagi4139]

I love my open-source products with bare motherboard showing through, 3d printed cases and CNC markings.

[@nikhilsrinivasan2533]

I mean what an inspirational and beautiful video. Hats off

[@nocodekevin]

You can remake this video with the same script and replace industrial design with graphic design, branding, web design. I feel this on many levels - like I have to re-present everything that was actual work - to appease the social media algorithms and I just don't have the time for it.

[@Design.Theory]

Pretty much, yeah.

[@jros2721]

Awesome content man! keep it up

[@SerifSansSerif]

I agree, everything looks the same, but it also has to do with standardization and the fact that we don't have a lot of new products anymore. I remember an article lamenting the lack of creativity in cell phones like we had when they first came out, and made the association with how cars started to take on the same look as well. So that's part of it. I think mass media influences, but also when your targeting the most amount of people, it makes sense to use the sum of the most well liked designs and common elements. We also have been on a trend towards simplification since, well... Baroque? Art noveau, art deco, mid century modern... Every step has been a simplification. Personally, I'm not a designer, but have a history with studying a very niche vintage market that emphasizes design. I'm also a woodworker who prefers to design his own stuff from my own sketches rather than a "get 'er done" or "follow the trends" approach. Typically I say look to the past for inspiration. Art noveau is kind of on my radar recently (and may start trending soon, if my feeling is correct), so lately I've been wanting to pull aspects of it back into my designs. Look at what's current, what,s missing, and REVOLT AGAINST IT!!! But still.... Make good design. :)

[@filiproch3653]

while watching this video i thought that this is some big channel having at least 5M subs and i still don’t believe that u have only 20k. can’t wait to see ur next vid

[@Design.Theory]

Thank you Filip! I appreciate that.

[@Huskie]

idk I kinda like it (makes it easier to have a coherent style without having to stick to one brand)

[@mskim22]

Oh wow, this is so nice content dealing with the ongoing self discussion in my head as an industrial designer looking at what is happening in this field for recent years.. One day, I thought like I become a slave of 'likes' and 'making more realistic and dramatic visuals' rather than thinking of better design solutions. I have also some of the portfolio following the trend on my web page. And when I took an interview with them, one of the interviewers was very offended about the works and just underrated them without the story. I got the impression that she was very sick of the flooding of social media looking concept dumps. It was an interesting experience though. Anyway..thank you for the content, it was very thoughtful! :)

[@Design.Theory]

Yeah, some designers can get pretty cranky about this stuff. I try to be as measured and restrained as I can with this stuff :) Thank you for watching!

[@Vysair]

It made my room looks clean and minimalistic

[@thecianinator]

This is a brilliant insight, and this exact thing has already been documented in pop music.

[@Design.Theory]

This was a big source of inspiration for me.

[@timcameron9023]

Glad I found this channel, been noticing what you describe for a while (I've been calling it 'peak design') Thanks for clearing it up. Subbed.

[@JosifovGjorgi]

How to solve your issues ? Start using Qubes OS or new VM for every new search, that way the search algorithm don't have data on you

[@toluwaseolushola8888]

You just explained my thoughts on design conceptual framework in details. Thanks, definitely sharing this.

[@Design.Theory]

Glad it was helpful! And thank you for sharing :)

[@Atzu0110]

2:32 I have never sorted by top rated or something alike. I usually sort by price (cheapest to most expensive).

[@nexusboyko]

Definitely remembering "algorithmic populism" as one of my new top descriptors of today's culture.

[@Design.Theory]

I did not make up the term. A friend of mine told me about it. I'm not sure where he got it from.

[@vincentdeneale3466]

You have a nice flow with the info and you can make it easy to follow.

[@Design.Theory]

Thank you!!

[@rsafreire]

Interesting video and although I agree that the algorithm is biased an easy way to escape from it is to be curious and look for inspiration elsewhere, hopefully in non design related sources. There is a bit of laziness involved in the process in this heard mentality.

[@Design.Theory]

I agree 💯. The key is to find inspiration elsewhere

[@ohokcool]

Definitely has deep implications in our culture, you should be aware of this influence of internet and algorithm on the world around us, even if you aren't a designer.

[@Noname-yu8qw]

I love the cybertruck design because it looks like something from an 80s sci-fi B movie

[@flyingaviator8158]

We need a video showcasing products who dont follow the trend!

[@andreas729]

Thank you, i needed to hear this it was driving me crazy to see the same shapes and design trends over and over around the web. Also, what is going on with people on Behance, always parising work with 0 critical feedback. Bunch of bots i guess

[@maxi-me]

I'm not a designer just have an interest in sociology. The title brought me here and I was not disappointed. Definitely something to the algorithm thing about but as you mentioned there's always been synergical trends re: medieval architecture, renaissance painting, Victorian clothing etc. Heck, during the 50-60s space race period didn't practically everything look like a rocket?!?

[@Design.Theory]

Yeah, it's really not only one thing. It's a combination of things. I chose to focus on algorithmic populism because in my opinion, it's one of the less obvious reasons around why everything looks the same.

[@maxi-me]

@@Design.Theory I get that, the algorithm explains why previous trends had more of a "societal ambition" reflection while so many recent designs seem to have a basic prototype feel about them. (despite mass emulation) Kind of reminds me of the way corporate workspaces in the past decade have tried to emulate the scant interior design of fledgling startup companies in a rehabilitated loft.

[@lilzohan7078]

Makes me more appreciative for the outlandish design of the PS5

[@ToriKo_]

One other thing is that the design of Pinterest itself influences the types of images that get popular on there. How there are multiple images put next to each other in rounded boxes, with infinite scroll. This is compared to a double page spread in a interior design magazine, in which the intended aesthetics diverge despite sharing the goal of user retention

[@ryanhume216]

Really great video! Hope this sparks more interesting conversations in our industry and encourages more designers to engage critically with what they see online

[@Design.Theory]

Thanks for your insights, Ryan!

[@anubhavsircar4202]

Man you put the reality out in this video. Whatever you said is 100% true… quality of renders in my Instagram vs my design proposal are exactly opposite. I never put the same effort for my proposals as I do for my Instagram😅.

[@Design.Theory]

So true haha 😂