Beauty Hides the Flaws

A joke works because everything is predictable until it isn't. Thorbjørn thinks breaking design rules works the same way. The question "What's something you were taught early on in your career that you later found out was actually wrong, or at least way more situational than you were originally told?" Off the hosts' own list. Martin's answer: every job used to be a pitch against rivals, and working alone now feels more like a team than employment ever did. Thorbjørn's: design school taught him that how a thing works counts more than how it looks, then he watched thinner ideas win on looks alone. He uses that lesson now, and hates it. What we talk about Martin asks where the rule of thirds came from. Thorbjørn reaches for the golden ratio, then admits he can't say why thirds please the eye. A tangent on green versus red. Breaking rules in a video game: at the start, and one at a time, because breaking it all at once makes noise instead of surprise. Martin's voiceover parallel. Then AI: posters that all look the same, and a novelty effect wearing off. Thorbjørn predicts subscription prices double once the fight for market share settles. Mentioned in this episode From Hidden By Design Colours (S1E10): the green-versus-red question Also mentioned Kahneman's System 1 and System 2: reasoning after the observation Trey Parker and Matt Stone on "but, therefore": South Park plotting Polyspice Games: Thorbjørn's studio, how the two met talat: on-device transcription Natural Reader: reads papers to him on runs Spotify: the market-share comparison Paul the Octopus: the football-predicting octopus Got a question of your own? Got a design question or dilemma you're stuck on? Send it to Thorbjørn and Martin through the contact form at hiddenbydesign.net and it might become a