i made a thing once that photographed beautifully. it sat on a shelf and looked exactly right. people who came over would pick it up, turn it over, put it back. nobody used it for what it was supposed to do.
that was the problem. it was designed to be looked at. i'd optimized for the photograph, for the shelf, for the moment of first impression. i hadn't thought much about the second impression, or the third, or what it felt like to actually use the thing.
i stopped making things like that. not because shelf-appeal is wrong — it's not — but because i got bored of it. the thing that looks good on a shelf is a solved problem. the thing that works well and also looks good is harder. more interesting.
the maker perspective of maker perspective talks about this shift — from aesthetics-first to use-first, and what you lose and gain in the transition. what you lose is a certain kind of elegance. what you gain is honesty.
use-first design has its own beauty. it's just less photogenic. the handle that fits the hand perfectly doesn't always look as good as the handle that photographs well. the material that holds up to daily use isn't always the material that catches light in the right way.
i've been making things in california for a while now. the art and objects of art and objects has a long tradition of this — the craft that's meant to be used, not displayed. pottery that holds soup. furniture that holds weight. objects that earn their place by doing their job.
the shelf is still there. the things on it still look good. but now they look good because they work, not because i designed them to look good. that's a different kind of satisfaction. more at brand building and calitoywares.