Owen Jones' last principle, n. 37, sounds a bit self-serving, but no less true for it:
PROPOSITION 37: No improvement can take place in the Art of the present generation until all classes, Artists, Manufacturers, and the Public, are better educated in Art, and the existence of general principles is more fully recognized.
Ponder the profound truth of that comment coming out strong and clear for manufacturers to be cultured, for the buying public to learn what good taste is and for artists to be production-wise. Each side has to take the other into account, if products are to be of good design.
Think this isn't still necessary?...
More......
Think, again...each time my towel or bathrobe falls to the floor because of the beautiful, modern, but highly unpractical so-called hook, I curse designers who pay more attention to what the product looks like than making sure it actually does what it's supposed to do. Ditto for when I lived in a house without any closet space...literally...and not even a place to hide a broom, though there would have been, had the architect been thinking practically instead of about how nice that door looked centered on the wall.
It also makes me think, positively, of the work of Susan Lazear, a teacher of textiles and clothing in San Diego and the inventor of my favorite embroidery program, StitchPainter, whom I had the privilege and fun of meeting during her trip with students to Milan a few months back. Interested in her work? Here's her blog about creativity: http://susanlazear.blogspot.it/.
Susan's computer program company, Cochenille, has not just StitchPainter, but also a very popular program called Garment Designer, for designing your own clothes and accessories patterns, as well as a stock of patterns available. (As usual, I get no kickbacks of any kinds from talking about my favorite products!)
Enjoy!
