Style

Abstract

Almost any discussion of good design includes considerations of style. Style often refers to the relationship between the appearance or form of a design and its function. There is much controversy over what constitutes good style. A reductionist view is that good style is just the same as good design for function. That is, anything that works well will thereby exhibit good style. Such designs are often described as elegant or honest. Dieter Rams supports this view. A structuralist view of good style is that the appearance of a design may be used to accomplish social as well as functional goals. A pair of glasses, for example, may be used both to correct vision problems and to convey membership in a social group such as hipsters. Such designs may be said to possess decorum. A commercialist view is that good style is a way of marketing designs. The appearance of a design should evoke associations with its originators in the minds of consumers, thus helping its originators to market it effectively. Consumers immediately associate the form of a Coca Cola bottle with the Coca Cola Company, for example. This sort of association is often known as branding.