Form, Function, and Feelings: Redefining Beauty in Design

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Have you ever wondered why some of the world's most successful brands and products are considered visually unappealing? The paradox of "ugly design" takes center stage as we unpack the surprising success stories hiding behind aesthetically challenged exteriors.

Crocs stands as perhaps the most emblematic case study – a widely mocked rubber clog that transformed into a billion-dollar global brand. We explore how function trumps form in this remarkable business success story, and why comfort and practicality ultimately outweighed visual appeal for millions of customers worldwide. The phenomenon extends beyond footwear into seasonal traditions like the beloved ugly Christmas sweater, where intentional garishness creates nostalgic connections and emotional resonance.

Beauty truly exists in the eye of the beholder, constantly shifting through time and cultural context. What appears jarring or unattractive today might become tomorrow's classic – just ask McDonald's, whose Golden Arches faced initial criticism in the 1950s before evolving into one of the world's most recognizable symbols. Sometimes, strategic "ugliness" serves a deliberate purpose, as with Spirit Airlines' intentionally cheap-looking branding that perfectly aligned with their budget positioning. Even tech giants like Google and Facebook began with rudimentary interfaces that prioritized function over beauty.

From Craigslist's stubbornly unchanged website to IKEA's famously wordless instruction manuals, we examine how minimal design approaches – sometimes perceived as "ugly" – can create distinctive brand identities that stand the test of time. The conversation challenges conventional wisdom about aesthetic appeal and invites listeners to reconsider what makes design truly successful.

What's your favorite example of "ugly design" that somehow works? Share your thoughts with us on Instagram and join the conversation about the beautiful paradox of aesthetically challenged success stories!

Learn more at:
https://twinteriors.com/podcast/

https://scottwoolley.com

Episode Transcript

Voice Over (00:00):
This is iDesign Lab, a podcast where creativity and
curiosity meet style and design.
Curator of interiors,furnishings and lifestyles.
Hosted by Tiffany Woolley, aninterior designer and a style
enthusiast, along with herserial entrepreneur husband
Scott, idesign Lab is yourultimate design podcast where we
explore the rich and vibrantworld of design and its constant

(00:23):
evolution in style and trends.
Idesign Lab provides industryinsight, discussing the latest
trends, styles and everything inbetween to better help you
style your life, through advicefrom trendsetters, designers,
influencers, innovators,fabricators and manufacturers,
as well as personal stories thatinspire, motivate and excite.

(00:43):
And join us on this elevated,informative and lively journey
into the world of all thingsdesign.

Scott Woolley (00:50):
Welcome to the iDesign Lab, where we tackle
everything that you can thinkabout having to do with design.
Today we're going to talk alittle about ugly design.
We're going to have a littlebit of a conversation about how
ugly design is everywhere in ourlife and we normally don't even
think about it, realize it, wesometimes laugh about it and

(01:10):
actually sometimes, and a lot oftimes, ugly design does very
well in retail and does verywell as a business, from either
logos to design of products orthe way things work.

Tiffany Woolley (01:23):
Well, it has a lot to do with form equals
function, so sometimes those twothings don't equal beauty.
So I mean, I think a funnyexample that kind of gets
everybody's brain jogged is theCrocs shoe.
Correct, Because obviouslythey're not attractive in any
way, shape or form.

(01:43):
However, it is a billion dollarbrand right.

Scott Woolley (01:47):
So when crocs came out, everyone looked at it,
saying what is that?
Yeah?
God how ugly could that be?
Why would someone wear that?
Exactly, but it became uh very,very big, even like most chefs,
use some sort of croc.
I don't know exactly why,because I think it's
ergonomically Ergonomicsituation which we've talked

(02:10):
about before.

Tiffany Woolley (02:11):
So that's another reason that leads to
ugly design too.
Ergonomics in general doesn'tlead to beautiful design.
I think sometimes the beauty isin its cleanliness.

Scott Woolley (02:24):
Well, Crocs are comfortable.

Tiffany Woolley (02:26):
And Crocs are clean.
It's one material.
It's not busy, even though it'sgot a lot of detail.
It's very simple.

Scott Woolley (02:35):
Yeah, so we wanted to spend a few minutes
today on this podcast just totalk about ugly design.
Like Crocs, as we justmentioned, another one that
everyone kind of forgets about,but there's that one time of the
year where everyone kind of itcomes right back in your face
and they call them the uglyChristmas sweaters.
Oh, yeah.
I think everybody probably hasowned one or worn one and

(02:59):
laughed about it.
I mean, I've had a few over theyears and when I would get one
I would say I'm not going towear this, this is as ugly as it
could be.

Tiffany Woolley (03:08):
But then I find myself that it's nostalgic,
it's kind of a feeling, I mean,and we operate on feelings in
this world we live in nowadays,right, and just think of how
many people have had uglysweater or ugly.

Scott Woolley (03:19):
You know sweater parties or you have to attend
the party wearing an uglysweater.

Tiffany Woolley (03:24):
Yeah, they still do.
It's like a thing.
You're right, and I go back tothe form and function but also,
as I just said, feelings,because so much about design is
a feeling and I know, even inthe interior design field, a lot
of you know high-end designersthat I actually follow and you
know look to for reference andinspiration.

(03:47):
You know some people might belike, oh, that's ugly.
So beauty really is in the eyeof the beholder, correct, and
there's some people who findsimplicity ugly.
There's some people who find,you know, over design ugly.
But I kind of go back to, withdesign is like what has stood

(04:09):
the test of time.
So obviously an ugly design iskind of becomes a what do you
call like a kitschy part of time.
It's like, oh, you rememberthis or you remember that
because of, like you said, uglysweater or oh, croc generation
or like these you know knowsuper modern houses like was,

(04:30):
like the Miami Vice, the 80s,and it's kind of coming back
again.
So I feel like it's proving tostand the test of time in the
long run.

Scott Woolley (04:39):
But most if you walk into a house that was
decorated in the 80s, mostpeople walk into the house going
oh my.
God, how ugly is this.
But back in the 80s that waslike the end thing.
So cool.

Tiffany Woolley (04:51):
And now, like you do walk into homes and you
walk into places that are fullof like a time warp and you do
be like, oh my goodness, likehow can somebody keep this?
And I mean, who ever thought ofa round bed being like a great
idea?
I mean it's kind of so.
There's some things throughgenerations and through time

(05:13):
that we kind of scratch our headat, but for the most part, I
feel like so some ugly comes inand out over the years.

Scott Woolley (05:21):
So some ugly stuff, yeah, is a fad, but then
there's also ugly like, I think,about.
Gapap changed their logo anumber of years back and they
changed just the font to aHelvetica font and there was
such an uproar over what itlooked like that literally six
days later, gap quickly changedit across all of their retail

(05:44):
platforms and stores, putting itback to the logo or the font
that we know today.

Tiffany Woolley (05:49):
Well, sometimes , with design or referring to
ugly design, it could also bereally, in a nutshell, the lack
of design.
You could even say Apple is anugly design, the brand of Apple.
Their design is very sterile.
It's very minimal, there isreally no design.

(06:09):
It's not like a beauty, but thebeauty is in its simplicity.
So it kind of taught us toappreciate it.
So sometimes ugly design getsappreciated over time and over,
as people's tastes evolve andgrow your appreciation.

Scott Woolley (06:27):
Well, some of the ugly design is the lack of
design or the lack ofinformation.
Great example of that is IkeaIkea and almost everything that
you buy, and it's a huge, huge,multi-billion dollar retail
company.
But when you buy something,almost everything has to be
assembled and there's alwaysbeen the complaints of the fact

(06:51):
that there's no instructions.
It's just pictures and it's avery difficult design for many
people to follow and many peoplefeel it's a really ugly way of
which they've put theirinstructions together, but
they've continued and it's madethem successful and it's also

(07:11):
because of that.

Tiffany Woolley (07:12):
People have talked about it, people complain
about it, but they still— Well,they say as long as they're
talking about you, it's a goodthing, right, Right?

Scott Woolley (07:18):
So ugly design sometimes really works and is
very helpful if it is ugly,because you'll get more PR out
of it.

Tiffany Woolley (07:25):
I think that was probably the truth for Crocs
as well, and I'm sure there'sothers along the way.
We could consider that fellinto that same category.

Scott Woolley (07:37):
Right.
But then there's other, likethe Internet.
Think about Craigslist.

Tiffany Woolley (07:42):
Those are websites Correct.

Scott Woolley (07:45):
The Craigslist website is a very ugly.
I mean there is no design, butit's very successful and it does
what it needs.
To do with very little and lackof design.
Almost it's like a throwback towhen the internet first started
and they haven't changed it.
I mean, even Google andFacebook when they first started
was a really simple, somewhatugly design, but it came about.

Tiffany Woolley (08:11):
Anytime there's innovation and there's things
that are new, you're going toopen yourself up to criticism
which is ugly, design orfunction, and I feel like those
feelings evolve over time.
And it's same thing, likewhenever, like I know, like
they've mentioned, like when theOlympics changed their logo in

(08:32):
London, and you know just thingswhen people aren't prepared for
those changes, all of a suddenit's like oh, that's ugly.
I know.
Like when we drive around townand there's a new building going
up, you know that you'refamiliar with, you know that
Walgreens used to be on thecorner or what have you, but
when you're driving around,you'll be like oh that's what
they're putting there.

(08:53):
Oh, like, how did that pass?
You know the buildingdepartment.
You know after.
I, like, deal with the buildingdepartment on a daily basis,
making our life miserable aswe're trying to make things more
beautiful, or even when it'shistoric properties.
We're definitely trying topreserve beauty and history.
They make our life crazy.
But then all this ugly designgets approved.

(09:15):
Like, how does that even happen?

Scott Woolley (09:19):
That I don't have an answer for, but if you think
about it.

Tiffany Woolley (09:22):
It's a feeling.

Scott Woolley (09:23):
But there's also design where some of the ugly
design is intentional SpiritAirlines when Spirit Airlines
launched, they wanted to beknown as an inexpensive airline
to fly.

Tiffany Woolley (09:35):
So they wanted to look cheap.

Scott Woolley (09:36):
Yes, they wanted their logo.
They wanted the way in whichtheir planes were painted up.
Logoed up was done to look kindof cheap and that would
resonate with people going oh,that's an inexpensive airline.
Even the way in which theinterior of the planes were
designed was kind of to make youfeel as though this is a Low

(10:00):
rent.
Yeah.

Tiffany Woolley (10:01):
Again, you said feeling, so I really think a
lot of this is feeling, andbeauty is in the eyes of the
beholder.

Scott Woolley (10:09):
Right, but going back to the 1950s with
McDonald's, when McDonald'slaunched.

Tiffany Woolley (10:14):
The Golden Arches, the.

Scott Woolley (10:15):
Golden Arches.
People didn't quite understand.
Okay, mcdonald's and an M, butpeople thought, like, what kind
of logo or design is that?
It didn't make sense.
People thought back in the 50sand the early 60s, when
McDonald's was starting out,that it was an ugly design.
But people don't think aboutthat today because it's a
billion know, a billion dollarinternational brand.

Tiffany Woolley (10:38):
You know everywhere on the planet well,
think of like even the 80s isdefinitely like hallmarked by
neon and you know in the 80skind of owns ugly design right
you know, not just inresidential, but just in the
overabundance of kind of ugly, Iguess.

Scott Woolley (10:59):
We'd love to hear from people and what they think
is ugly design.
If you've got an ugly designthat you're familiar with hit us
up on Instagram and let us know.

Tiffany Woolley (11:13):
Give us your best ugly.

Scott Woolley (11:15):
Yes, absolutely.

Tiffany Woolley (11:17):
Well, that's our tidbit for today.

Scott Woolley (11:19):
Thanks for being part of us with some ugly design
.

Voice Over (11:24):
I Design Labs podcast is an SW Group
production in association withthe Five Star and TW Interiors.
To learn more about I DesignLab or TW Interiors, please
visit TWinteriorscom.