Showing only Notes + Links tagged enough
Kenya Hara, famous designer and creative director of Muji, on Japanese aesthetics:
A central aesthetic principle in Japan is simplicity, but it is different from simplicity in the West. Let me explain the difference by comparing cooking knives. The knives made by the German company, Henckel, for example, are well crafted and easy to use because they are highly ergonomic. The thumb automatically finds its place when you grab the knife.
Japanese cooks who have special skills prefer knives without any ergonomic shape. A flat handle is not seen as raw or poorly crafted. On the contrary, its perfect plainness is meant to say, “You can use me whichever way suits your skills.” The Japanese knife adapts to the cook’s skill (not to the cook’s thumb). This is, in a nutshell, Japanese simplicity.
The knife’s simple shape is not seen as poor or raw. Beauty beyond fanciness is an aesthetic principle that is sleeping at the bottom of Japanese perception. A guiding principle also to Japanese high tech architecture and the minimal products of Muji.
(via iA)
In our time, many of us have been taught to strive for an insane perfection that means nothing. To get wholeness, you must try instead to strive for this kind of perfection, where things that don’t matter are left rough and unimportant, and the things that really matter are given deep attention. This is a perfection that seems imperfect. But it is a far deeper thing.Christopher Alexander on the perfection of imperfection - (37signals)
Soft Clock Concept by Egor Myznik.
The hands of the clock make bulges in the glossy flexible PVC front. How minimal!
(via today and tomorrow)
We have grown accustomed to locating museum architecture along a spectrum. At one end are buildings that are sculpture in their own right; at the other, boxes that decline to compete with their contents. The Modern Wing edges toward the latter pole. “I’m a builder by training,” Piano said. “I like the idea of making good, solid safe shelters for human beings.” He wasn’t being entirely disingenuous. Laciness aside, the Modern Wing is a good, solid safe shelter for art and our enjoyment of it.Julie Lasky — Design Observer
I saw Objectified, the second major film by director Gary Hustwit (of Helvetica), tonight at the IFC Center and it was really inspiring.
Because the film had been so hyped up on the internet since long before its release, I tried to have semi-low expectations, but that wasn’t really necessary because the film was excellent. It very fluidly covered a really wide range of topics, taught me things I didn’t know, introduced me to wonderful new-to-me and old-favorite designers and their ideas, made me laugh, and reminded me what it is about design that I love so much.
I was surprised that the reviews I had read seemed overall positive but a little lukewarm, because I really loved the film. I think it’s a very strong second swing after Helvetica, which I enjoyed but felt unresolved about in many ways.
After Objectified, I left the theater smiling, with a newly revived appreciation for everyday, invisible/good enough design.
I’m about to pass out on account of a delicious post-movie nutella, strawberry, and ice cream crepe from the nearby Creperie, but I’ll dash off some more extensive thoughts on here in the coming days.
In a design portfolio review a year ago I was asked “Why Helvetica?” I should’ve said “Because austerity is a rebellion against tastelessness.”
22 Series Recessed Power Plug by Bocci
Cast aside the cover plate and contemplate the simplicity of a three-pronged plug laid bare. The 22 is a seamless suite of electric sockets designed to fit flush on any wall surface. From Bocci.
Extreme subtlety excites me.
When things are going well in a design, we don’t pay attention to them. We only pay attention to things that bother us. It’s like an air conditioner in a conference room. Nobody ever interrupts our meetings to tell us how comfortable the temperature is. They don’t even notice. We only notice the conference room temperature when it is too cold or too hot. Or perhaps we notice if the unit is too loud or is leaking all over the floor. But when it’s working perfectly, it becomes invisible.Jared Spool — Great Designs Should Be Experienced and Not Seen (via stopdesign)
Who is Coming to America Infographic from GOOD Magazine
This is a look at the 20 countries from which the most people came to America in 2008, how many immigrants had family here, and how many received asylum when they arrived on our shores.
This infographic on immigration from GOOD Magazine by Timo and Klick REEKS of overdesign.
And I don’t mean to say I don’t love it: it looks absolutely gorgeous and exceeds itself in cleverness (it’s our flag!), but I find that it actually makes the data harder to grasp.
You could argue that the bright colors and slick design could attract readers to important data they would otherwise be uninterested in. (It definitely drew me in!) But once I finished gaping, it I didn’t feel like I had a new talking point about immigration.
What I took away from this was: big flag, lots of colors, and mostly Mexico. But the rest is too scattered. It’s too easy to be too slick and too clever. However, those things cloud what’s really important to know.
It’s an important reminder to strive for enough.
“Good Enough”
Seth Godin has some interesting thoughts on website design on his blog:
“Do you want the people visiting this site to notice it?”
It’s a subtle but essential question.
For artists, musicians and web 2.0 companies, the answer is probably yes. Yes we want people to see the interface or remark on our skills or cleverness.
For everyone else, it’s no. The purpose of the site is to tell a story or to generate some sort of action. And if the user notices the site, not the story, you’ve lost.
Essentially, Godin is saying that if you’re trying to tell a story, it’s not wise to let your presentation overpower your content.
Amazingly, this means that not only can’t the site be too cutting edge, clever or slick, it also can’t be too horrible, garish or amateurish. It’s sort of like the clothes you want the person giving a euology to wear. No Armani, no cutoff jeans.
That last paragraph in particular reminds of the Muji design philosophy of “enough”:
We would like our customers to feel the rational sense of satisfaction that comes not with “this is best,” but with “this is enough.” “Best” becomes “enough.”
To paraphrase a designer whose name I can’t remember: Form doesn’t follow function. Form and function are a balance. If one is out of balance so is the other.
Great design is clever, flashy, and grabs your attention, it stops you in your tracks and screams at you to notice it, while good enough design tells a story and gives you rational satisfaction. Finding that center between form and function, between content and presentation, and between Armani and cutoffs is how you hit that sweet spot of “good enough”.
