We live in an era where personal style is increasingly indistinguishable from brand strategy. The aesthetic codes that once belonged to subcultures, regions, or craftspeople have been flattened into algorithms—optimized for compatibility, trend velocity, and frictionless aspiration. When everything looks good, originality becomes the only risk... See more

Like many writers before me, I tend to lean on vague hand-waving when the need to define taste, or rather, good taste, arises. A common trope is to use the phrase US Supreme Court justice Stewart famously gave to describe obscenity, a similarly hard-to-describe bedfellow of taste, in 1964: “I know it when I see it.” In design, good taste can be... See more

So, in shameless imitation of a master and tastemaker, here are my notes on “taste.”

1. To start very generally, taste is a mode. It’s a manner of interpretation, expression, or action. Things don’t feel tasteful, they demonstrate taste. Someone’s home can be decorated tastefully. Someone can dress tastefully. The vibe cannot be tasteful. The

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