Unexpected Beauty

I made a video yesterday about "Aesthetic Gyms" It's on a tear across video platforms right now.

I showed examples of different gyms from decades or centuries past that were very attractive and contrast them with clinical minimalist rooms of today.

This idea clearly resonates. There is a mass hunger for the beauty that was commonplace a century ago.

Today, we live in a very efficient yet uninspired world. I will note, I'm very grateful to be alive today with all the modern conveniences we have. I don't take these for granted and don't want to seem entitled in my approach.

But given all the other advances, we've really dropped the whole public beauty and detail thing. It's very apparent everywhere you look.

Very grateful for electricity. Floored by how ugly the infrastructure is.

No one expects public beauty today. That's why people are taken aback by it. It's why people want to visit Europe.

Of course, this is your opportunity. As someone interested in design, whether that is just in your home, or relating to a career, your mission is essentially to make the world a more beautiful place.

There's more opportunity to do this than ever before, and as I mentioned last week, social media has created a fast lane for creatives to do this.

Could you make a bathroom like no other? A gorgeous storage system? Beautiful self watering planters?

Maybe a disguised cell phone tower?

Chances are, there is a market for it.

Palm tree cell tower disguise by Daniel R. Blume (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Tangentially, my buddy Chris Koerner recently posted about Yeti coolers and the idea of making a better product to sell for significantly more. Yeti is something I think about a LOT.

I remember being baffled when I found out people I knew were spending $500 on a cooler, $2000 on a green egg smoker, and $1500 on a stroller.

But clearly, the market is there for "the best."

And beauty is certainly one way to be the best.

Business & Pleasure is one of my favorite brands of all time. They figured out how to tap into 60s/70s Palm Springs cool, became "the best" and today command a significant premium on their gorgeous umbrellas even though copycats abound.

Business & Pleasure

The lack of beauty today is your opportunity to innovate, to create, and to tickle the eyes of the world.

As you go about your days this week, think about, "what's an area that's lacking beauty and how could I add it?"