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. With Snakes on Your Sense of Individuality
Posted by Rob Walker on November 21, 2006
Posted Under: "Good Design" (Tyranny of),The Designed Life
Posted Under: "Good Design" (Tyranny of),The Designed Life
Rather early in the life of Consumed, I had a column in which I used the phrase, “the tyranny of Good Design,” and observed that, sometimes, it feels as if every object you’ve ever owned, no matter how mundane, will need to be replaced simply because it’s not stylish enough, and fails to express Who You Really Are.
The latest example, via Popgadget: “These charming Snake Bike Locks sold by Pylones are a wonderful way to differentiate your bicycle from the countless masses.”
That’s something you need to do. You need to differentiate your bicycle from the countless masses. Only $27.
Further diversion may be found at MKTG Tumblr, and the Consumed Facebook page.
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Reader Comments
I’ve also been interested in the “we can print on anything” case. Products are not reimagined as in your example above, but merely any flat surface is covered with sports logos or flames or bunnies. They’ll print right on mouthguards (for example) now, or they’ll see you a skin you can place on your iPod, phone, laptop, or large home appliance. Every surface is an opportunity for personalization. Someone should photoshop what that will look like, taken to its inevitable extreme.
At a certain point this stuff just gets me dizzy. Sure, it’s cool; but it’s also “different like everyone else”; but, y’know, a snake as a bike lock – that’s pretty funny; but – c’mon, that’s just ridiculous.
And at another point, not far in the future, when everything is infinitely customizable, the plain white t-shirt approach will in itself be the radical fashion choice, etc.