Taste

Taste is my word for the judgment layer that sits on top of craft. It is what separates a designer who knows the rules from a designer who knows when to break them and when not to.

My specific take

Taste is not a vibe. It is a trained ability to tell real from fake, sharp from dull, useful from decorative. It is built through exposure and reps, not by reading about it.

I treat taste as a form of Competence. A person with taste can look at a page and see the three things that need to change before the client does. A person without taste copies what looks safe and calls it a style.

Taste without substance

I am allergic to taste that is not tied to value. Pretty work that does not sell, convert, clarify, or compound is not tasteful to me. It is expensive decoration. See Substance over Noise.

Taste has to earn its place the same way design does. If it does not create an outcome, it is an indulgence.

How I sharpen it

• Long-form reading, Essays, Substack, The New York Times
• Studying systems I respect, not just screenshots
• Watching YouTube creators with real depth like The Futur and Code Grid
• Doing the work. Shipping. Getting feedback. Adjusting.

Why it matters to me

Taste is a compounding asset. Good taste makes every decision slightly faster and slightly better. Across a year of work that compounds into a visible gap between my output and the median. That gap is what I sell through Duodode.

How it connects

Taste informs Intentional Design. It is enforced by Visual Rigor. It is what keeps Timeless Design from becoming boring. It is the reason a No-BS approach can still produce beautiful work.

Related

Design Philosophy · Visual Rigor · Intentional Design · Substance over Noise · Competence