added by sari and · updated 3mo ago
Why We Crave Software With Style Over "Branding"
- Within the past few years, tech companies’ digital design all started to look the same: marginally, monotonously quirky; safe. From the sans-serif fonts to the muted pastel color palette, the stark white backgrounds to the curvy shape and hue of the buttons, most modern software blurs together into a familiar, squint-and-you’ll-confuse-it aesthetic... See more
from Why We Crave Software With Style Over "Branding" by Andreessen Horowitz (AZ)
sari added 3y ago
- Style is not just about intentionality and appeal, however; it can also be what differentiates software companies like Notion, for instance, at the outset. The app’s serene environment, charismatic illustrations, and playful references to technology history stand out in a crowded marketplace of note-taking apps.
from Why We Crave Software With Style Over "Branding" by Andreessen Horowitz (AZ)
sari added 3y ago
- Software started out being specific — designed just for one person even — then expanded to a broader audience by trying to appeal to everyone and losing its identity in the process. In the wake of the uniform brand identity crisis in the tech industry, I believe we need to return to specificity in order to appeal to users more broadly.
from Why We Crave Software With Style Over "Branding" by Andreessen Horowitz (AZ)
sari added 3y ago
- Modern software’s humdrum lack of identity has resulted in users craving more interesting, opinionated tools, tools that feel like us — or a better, more interesting, wackier version of us.
from Why We Crave Software With Style Over "Branding" by Molly Mielke
sari added 3y ago
- Part of this, I believe, is about bringing back an opinionated approach to software design, where the tool asserts itself. For instance, Linear’s sleek, luminous feel and decisive approach to how work should be done shows how an unwavering commitment to a specific measure of pixel-perfect quality can be incredibly compelling. Similarly, a product l... See more
from Why We Crave Software With Style Over "Branding" by Andreessen Horowitz (AZ)
sari added 3y ago
- While crypto historically prioritized function over form, the space has more recently emerged as a leader in experimenting with using style as a competitive advantage.
from Why We Crave Software With Style Over "Branding" by Andreessen Horowitz (AZ)
sari added 3y ago
- Fast forward to today and tools are incentivized to expand their market by attempting to solve everything at once. But this means that the market for any given piece of software is often anyone and everyone.
from Why We Crave Software With Style Over "Branding" by Andreessen Horowitz (AZ)
sari added 3y ago
- For this reason, websites like Craigslist and Are.na strike a chord: Their analog internet style and chunky buttons feel daring and intriguing in this modern context. Compared to the blasé, blue-branded modern tools we all spend so much of our time using today — and that contribute to that uniform sameness described earlier — these tools feel decid... See more
from Why We Crave Software With Style Over "Branding" by Andreessen Horowitz (AZ)
sari added 3y ago
- From Airbnb to Google to Spotify, this era has come to be defined by the commodification of accessible consumer (and now, even enterprise) brands.
from Why We Crave Software With Style Over "Branding" by Andreessen Horowitz (AZ)
sari added 3y ago