A casting agent in the 1950’s was heard to remark to a director, after yet another male performer’s audition, ‘Oh great. Another Brando. That’s just what we need.’ The point is that Brando was a revelation, but the thing about revelations is that once things are revealed they are no longer revelatory. You can still put a lobster on a telephone and call it art, but don’t expect anyone to care.

The design world is awash with hordes of designers attempting to be original, and striving for unconventionality has become something of a fetish. Comparatively few designers attempt to be specific rather than unconventional or original, which strikes me as a far more interesting objective.*

*My thanks to Elizabeth Farrelly for this insight.