Has Perfect Killed Personality in Design?
But in chasing this perfection, has design become too sterile? Too precise, too safe, maybe even a little transactional? There has been brilliant work lately, truly outstanding in craft and execution, yet I still struggle to recall something that stopped me cold. Something that ruffled feathers, broke convention, or felt genuinely unexpected. The quality is there, the ambition is there, but has anything felt wildly different?
It’s not just on studios or designers. Client demands and market habits shape the work. Clean, minimal, transparent, message-first. All great brand qualities, but maybe we’ve lost those small sparks of wonder. The moments that surprise. The details that make a brand feel alive.
The industry moves with the world, and right now we’re in the age of AI, accessibility and sharp cultural opinions. That has created a landscape of friendly, approachable design. I can’t help but wonder when the pendulum might swing back toward risk, toward design that speaks directly to the true believers and takes them somewhere unforgettable.
I’ve noticed my own design style shifting, with accessibility and simplicity guiding almost every creative choice. Maybe it’s time to challenge that. To deliberately create work that pushes against the current landscape and stirs something unexpected, just to see what new ideas emerge.