Title: Ugliness Is Underrated: Ugly Design
Context: Form only need follow function if you are a design snob.
Synopsis: We get so caught up in the overwhelming prejudice favoring “good” design that we often fail to see the equally important role “ugliness” can bring to the design table. Why should fine, elegant, well-considered design get all the good press? Doesn’t whimsy have a role to play? Isn’t kitschiness too, a valuable trait? Design populism can often be a more accurate (fun-house) mirror of our cultural wants and whims than unobtainable, elitist snobbery. Taste is a transient property, flowing in and out of fashion, while the bizarre remains constant irrespective of our societal mores. The timelessness of tastelessness is in and of itself worth its weight in tacky largemouth bass house slippers. Stick that in your novelty corncob pipe and smoke it.
Best Bit: “I don’t feel a terrible urge to clutter my house with these items. Instead, I feel a terrific joy at their stupid irrationality.”
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