We live in undeniably ugly times. Architecture, industrial design, cinematography, probiotic soda branding — many of the defining features of the visual field aren’t sending their best. Despite more advanced manufacturing and design technologies than have existed in human history, our built environment tends overwhelmingly toward the insubstantial, the flat, and the gray, punctuated here and there by the occasional childish squiggle.

Following the recently shared article on “why your stuff is actually worse now”, this article explores why we live in a “slightly duller, worse world” aesthetically. Why is everything so ugly?

nplusonemag.com/issue-44/the-intellectual-situation/why-is-everything-so-ugly/