I’ve noticed that some categories of product have a much greater tendency to be ugly than others. It’s as if there’s only a certain amount of aesthetic to go round and some things have to lose out. Two unfortunate examples of such losers are razors and Hi-Fis.
Turbo power kapow! razors
By razors I mean wet-shave razors with a handle and replaceable heads. You’ll spot these because they are typically advertised alongside sportsmen, motorbikes and explosions.
Personally, I find shaving quite a tranquil experience - first thing in the morning sound-tracked by the Today programme on Radio 4. It’s not a time when I want to be shouted at by an over-engineered, nuclear-powered piece of colourful metal and plastic
Gillette Fusion Power Gamer (that really is what it’s called)
Successive generations of product managers and marketers universally and reliably seem to have decided that all the experience has been lacking is an extra blade? Perhaps I’m being unfair because planned obsolescence is a key factor and by that measure they are doing a great job, but either way it leaves me unsatisfied.
Wilkinson Sword Royale by Kenneth Grange, 1979
It’s not impossible to design a good-looking razor. The great Kenneth Grange has designed some for Wilkinson Sword in the past, but in my opinion today’s popular models lack a certain class.
Next time you’re in the supermarket have a look at the choice for yourself. Maybe it’s just me but I find it disappointing. And that’s before you get home and have to tackle the life-threateningly sharp plastic packaging. Is this really the best a man can get?
Hi-Fis
I realise that there may be a declining market for hi-fi equipment, but their ugliness is not a new development. Indeed, these days aesthetics are arguably all the more important now that the competition is more diversified.
To make my point, see what you think of the £1,000 Cyrus CD player. Or this Parasound Halo CD1 for £5,000. Yes, that’s five thousand pounds. Really.
Parasound Halo CD1
Who even listens to CDs these days, you may ask.
This phenomenon isn’t restricted to ancient technologies such as CD players. Cutting-edge and critically-acclaimed models are also being dragged through the design hedge backwards.
Take the award-winning Naim UnitiLite for £2,000 or the Krell Connect, a £3,000 audio streaming box.
Krell Connect
Again, counterexamples prove that there isn’t a fundamental law of acoustic engineering that limits beauty. There has been some great looking design from Dieter Rams and Braun over the years, combining form and function in perfect harmony the way they do. More recent examples exist too - like this from Yamaha.
Yamaha A-S2000
Of course, as with the razors, this is very subjective. I could find ugly examples of all sorts of products. But with hi-fi equipment ugliness seems to be endemic, and there’s an inverse correlation between price and much I’d want the product on display in my living room . See for yourself – here are What Hi-FI magazine’s top-end CD player reviews.
By the way, I think proper stereo systems are great and I still listen to CDs. It saddens me to think that a generation of kids may grow up only listening to music on YouTube and mobile phones.
Bling watches
I’m sure there are other classes of products sitting in design blind spots but razors and stereos have rankled me for a while. I wouldn’t automatically put watches in this category because there are many lovely watches out there. But many incredibly expensive watches do corroborate my argument that money doesn’t necessarily buy taste.
Watches are quite tightly constrained in terms of size and form factor. Perhaps this is why, to justify the ridiculous prices desired by people with more money than sense, watchmakers contrive to produce some truly hideous watches by adding and adding and adding.
This watch will set you back nearly £100,000. That in itself is obscene, but based on looks alone I would genuinely pay a small monthly fee to not wear it.
Obscenely expensive watch by DeWitt
There are many more where that came from. Again, you can judge for yourself via this link to some watches from Harrods that are the price of a car, or even a small house.
Beards
There’s great pleasure to be had in beautiful products - even a £5 razor. I wish companies would stop over-complicating things and focus on making simple, usable products.
Maybe ugly razors are the reason why so many designers have beards.