the creative arena
Everyone in design circles loves to pontificate about taste, but it's always the people with portfolios that look like a Vegas casino who have the most to say. Taste is the emperor's new clothes of the creative industry, claimed by all, possessed by few, recognized only by those who already have it.
But the twisted irony of taste is its resistance... See more
Developing Taste
When the first car came out, consumers didn't care about its color, or silhouette, because the competition was a horse.1 But now that cars have been commoditized, quality and details have become more important than ever.
The same applies to software. Simply shipping a product that works is no longer enough, everyone can do that, espe... See more
When the first car came out, consumers didn't care about its color, or silhouette, because the competition was a horse.1 But now that cars have been commoditized, quality and details have become more important than ever.
The same applies to software. Simply shipping a product that works is no longer enough, everyone can do that, espe... See more
Emil Kowalski • Developing Taste
To me, the key to keeping taste is to be true to yourself. While I recognize that that sentiment would be more appropriate on a wine mom’s wall hanging, it is surprisingly hard. When no one cares about you and you make objects for the simple joy of creation, you’re under no pressure to conform your taste to anyone. When your audience grows—when art... See more
Evan Armstrong • The Art of Scaling Taste
Cultural works aren’t hedonic appliances dispensing experiences with greater and greater efficiency for audiences to passively consume. Creators and audiences are always engaged in an active process of outmaneuvering each other. Yes, I want more of what I already like, but I also want to be surprised. New patterns are discovered, repeated, become t... See more
Frank Lantz • Unpluggers, Deflators etc. pt 3: Why Not Both?
The problem you solve for customers is increasingly one they can’t even articulate for themselves . The ones that are easy to understand have already been built and funded over the last 20 years. Building something of true excellence will require a hungrier engagement with the world—and that will have to start with developing superior taste.
Evan Armstrong • Want to Build? Technical Excellence Won’t Be Enough.
taste > skills
taste seems more scarce these days, and increasingly differentiating in the age of AI where so much of skills-based productivity is offloaded to compute.
makes me think about the development of taste, and how we nurture taste for the next gen of humans.