When does clean design become boring design?

Against my better judgement, I started browsing the website of one of the world’s most prominent computer, phone and mp3 player manufacturers yesterday. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you which company it was; a simple description of the products and an allusion to it’s avid fan base should be enough… All in one computers, encased in sleek white plastic. Laptops encased in sleek white plastic, or brushed aluminium. Phones with smooth, curved silver edges. Single button mice, in sleek white plastic. Keyboards made from sleek- OK I think you get the picture. I am of course talking about Apple. They make a quality product. You can tell if something is Apple just by looking at it. The iPod for example has been through many iterations, but the basic design principle is the same. The iPhone 4 still takes it visual queues from the original. The iPad and iPod Touch are essentially upscaled iPhones without the ability to make phone calls. I could sit here and knock the functionality of their products all day, but one thing I will always concede is that they know design. They have been more than influential with their work; Apple is synonymous with style.

Apple have cemented their place in the market, and the designs of their products… but I wonder, sometimes, if it isn’t time for a change.

The problem with Apple’s “design revolution” is that in an attempt to make themselves look up to date and modern, companies have copied Apple’s designs. If you look around, you can see a fair few products that echo the look of Apple’s biggest successes. Now, I’m not saying that people are going round making carbon copies of this stuff (ahem, China), but the influence is definitely there, and if I’m honest, I don’t like it. With the manufacturing capabilities we have now, any design is possible. There have been some stunning computer case designs in recent years that have been truly original. The same goes for phones and mp3 players.

The problem is that the number of original designs is far outweighed by the number of similar designs, and I’m not just talking about hardware. Take, for example, the Apple website. It is the very embodiment of Web 2.0. Smooth glassy looks, reflections, flowing animations, everything we’ve come to expect from a Web 2.0 site. Now, look at other sites made in the last year.

Reflections are in. Smooth glassy looks are in. Bevels are in. Clean, simple text is in. Now, I’m not suggesting that every web designer has followed the same process, but the end result is the same. We’re losing that which makes design unique. You can’t use the modern, Web 2.0 style of a product as it’s selling point any more, because every product is modern and Web 2.0. Even retro designs are starting to look modern. Design seems to have become obsessed with simplicity and “clean” designs, eschewing textures and images for soft gradients and plain backgrounds. Have we explored this form of design completely? Are we ready to move on?

The million dollar question is: Are we bored of clean, Web 2.0 design?