subject: Make The Internet Prettyplease [print this page] Why, oh why, does the digital world need to be ugly? A big assumption, I know. A big assumption that doesnt apply to everything out there.
Mail Chimp looks great. So does Emmaand Small Fish. And Rails for Zombies, thats a stylistic piece of art. But alas, these aesthetes are in the minority. By and large the web is dominated by beige and Times Roman. Take one look at Basecamp or Smartsheet and youll soon see what I mean. Long screeds of information presented in dull font in endless rows of uniformity.
Yuck.
Its like walking through those commercial sections of the city that were built in the 70s and early 80s. Its all concrete, hard edges, greys, brownsa whole lot of functionality. No beauty allowed.
Now, I can kind of understand why this happens in cities. Beautiful buildings cost a hell of a lot to build. The nicer materials tend to be the less available ones, the more pricey. Its all very well have a cutting edge architectural design, but if you dont have the substantial cash to realize the project in marble and oak then its just a pretty picture on parchment.
But the same rules dont apply in the virtual realms. Scarlets the same price as beige. Tangerine costs as much a grey. Squares versus arches, flat versus relief, Baroque versus minimalistthere aint a whole lot of difference on the balance sheet.
Okay, I know thats simplifying things. Animation costs a lot of time and effort to make. Thus it costs more. So does layering. So do special interactive effects on a website. The more complicated your site, the more it costs to build. Fair enough. But hold on, look at it in perspective.
How much does it cost to build a truly beautiful website?
$5000-$10000?
How much does it cost to build a truly beautiful building?
$500,000 - $1,000,000 for a house.
For a museum or an office building? Were talking millions.
Digital building materials are cheaper than dirt. But we still spend small change on our virtual assets. We blog for free using templates, some of which are pretty, most of which are not. Why not? Theres no money in it, so why should anyone spend their time and creative sweat on beautifying for peanuts?
We can buy a kitset website for between $10-$100. Again, all the bits are there, some of which are pretty, most of which are not.
Its all about value. How much do you VALUE your presence in the mighty interwebs? Are you satisfied to spend small change on beige, Times Roman and kitset features, or do you want to make a statement about who you are and what you stand for?
Like the Chrysler building?
Like Sky Tower?
Like Gaudis cathedral?
Beauty makes the world easier to live in. It creates light when even the suns having trouble pushing through the clouds. And its never been easier to create beauty.
The gaming industry has it sorted. So does the move industry.
Its time the web app industry woke up and checked out the roses. Theyve got a thing or two teach us. We just have to look.
