"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful."
William Morris
Not "and believe to be beautiful." Beauty alone is a legitimate reason for something to exist. Modernism gradually replaced or with and. But William wouldn't have done it.
Marcel Breuer chair (1925) vs. Arthur Mackmurdo chair (1883)
Jan Tschichold design (1930) vs. Alfonse Mucha design (1896)
Walter Gropius building (1926) vs. Antoni Gaudi building (1882)
Now that everyone can build a passable cookie-cutter site for free, customization and beauty matter more than ever.
"Less is More." (Ludwig Mies van der Rohe)
"Less is a Bore." (Robert Venturi)
"Just enough is more." (Milton Glaser)
Ornamentation has a place in web design; not as an add on, but intrinsic to the whole design (biola, cameron moll, an event apart).
