On Taste

I’ve been refining this blog’s design for two decades. With each new version, I get a little better at knowing what I want. Turns out, my designs tend to get simpler with time. At this point, it’s all typography and negative space. I got better at knowing what I value and what I can take away. Uncluttering brings joy. Maybe that’s a deeply human thing? Obsession and Preference Spend enough time with anything, and you’ll develop strong opinions about it. You become obsessed with the details. And everything is somebody’s obsession. Sneakers. Mechanical keyboards. Coffee. Watch enough movies and you might start analyzing Dutch angles and obsessing over color grading. You start noticing subtle issues in pacing. You’ll recognize the same actor in different roles, even if they’re just a random extra. Once you start seeing nuance, you can never unsee it. You’ve developed a strong personal preference. But at this stage, you’re just a guy with an opinion. Good Taste Having preferences isn’t…