The Elegance of Nothing
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The Elegance of Nothing
Brand and product designer Frank Chimero noted in a 2018 talk at the Substans Conference in Bergen, Norway, that “if we’re setting out to change the character of technology in our lives, we’d be wise to learn from the character of places.”*
On Digital Gardens: Tending to Our Collective Multiplicity
Brands targeting high-net-worth individuals need to reposition around work-of-the-human-hands artistry and excellence versus the wannabe-rich, in-your-face communication codes.
Ana Andjelic • The Business of Aspiration: How Social, Cultural, and Environmental Capital Changes Brands
Where will we see luxury software transform markets? Already, in the consumer productivity space, we’re starting to see “luxury” email clients, calendars, browsers, and search engines emerge. While all of these capabilities are freely accessible to consumers and rather commoditized, companies like Superhuman for email, Cron (now Notion) for calenda... See more
Scott Belsky • Disruptive Interfaces & the Rise of Luxury Software
Historically, luxury was expressed in the soaring vaulted ceilings and dazzling stained glass of a cathedral; now, luxury is in a piece of technology so perfect that it seems human hands cannot possibly have created it. Luxury is the market equivalent of feathers on a bird. It’s irrational and sexual, and it easily overwhelms the killjoy, rational ... See more
Dirty Furniture • TELL ME, DO YOU INTEND TO FUCK IT?
We're in the era of modern software companies as lifestyle brands.
We've passed the basic utility phase; now, it's about delivering an experience and forging an identity that resonates with the aspirations and values of your audience.
UX has become a fashion statement, and standout products have style. We'll see:
- Haute Couture software
- Lux... See more
2000. ‘In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer. It’s interior decorating. It’s the fabric of the curtains and the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service.
Alice Rawsthorn • Hello World: Where Design Meets Life
As engineering has improved and knock-offs have increased, though, the two-hundred-year tradition of physical luxury goods is fading away.
Seth Godin • Speculation is the new luxury good
A decade or so ago, brands shifted from increasing value of their products through utility, competitive comparison, and creative advertising to endowing products they made with aesthetic, sustainability credentials, a story of artisanship and provenance, and/or a community in order to give their products identity and singularity. (Virgil Abloh made
... See more