Everything looks the same now

If you are a designer, do you want to make work that stands out? That is one of a kind? And if so, what about your design is so unique?

If you are a digital designer and your work results in screen designs, what makes those screens special? If you take out the colors and replace the fonts with Arial, is your design still as powerful?

So much designs are starting to look alike these days. Not just digital design, but spaces and interiors as well, as this tweet nicely illustrates:

Is this a bad thing? Apparently people (both our clients and users) like designs that match what they are used to or what they have come to expect. If it works, it works, right?

Well, not entirely.

You see, as designers we don’t only have a responsibility towards our clients and our users. We also have a responsibility towards each other. If we keep creating work that looks like any designer could have made it, we are not pushing our profession forward.

Good design is not just about the people we work for, it’s also about ourselves, and how we see the world. Design is us – design is you. What makes your design special is that you made it. Let’s not forget that.