Designers are often trivialized as people whose job it is to “make things pretty,” but this is a mistake. It assumes that function always matters more than appearance, and that style is a recent luxury in our history. There’s evidence that the opposite is true. Some early axes made by Homo erectus were refined well past the point of utility, with the added goal of making them look good, perhaps to attract a mate, or to demonstrate trustworthiness or social status1 (whereas today, most of our status symbols are purchased, not made).
Homo ertues design philosophy
