Onions in design.

Onions have layers and hardly anyone uses the outermost one. Corns have a covering but I don't see anyone eating that. The sweet taste of apples is judged by the white inside rather than the red outside. I have never seen anyone eat the shells of peanuts either. Its the inside that counts - and I like to believe that it holds true for design.
Yes, when one thinks of design, our mind instantly thinks of improving how something looks. However, it is not completely disassociated from its concept, its inner soul. Design briefs are always convoluted and to simplify all that into one symbol, one layout or one design is a very challenging task. The problem is that quite often the solutions strive to make something 'pretty' and end up looking identical to earlier solutions to completely different jobs. Without a concept, most designs will end up having no individuality of their own. This is a problem especially in an atmosphere of intense competition between companies who want to stand apart from each other. And yet designers keep trying to make just pretty things. It could work once, twice, maybe thrice but really, if there has hardly been any thought into it, it will die out 99 out of 100 times. Among the many things that i have learnt from design school and design studios, one of them is to never ever kill the soul.
Lets take logos for example. Especially the typographic ones, especially in the fashion sphere. They look so similar to each other. Heck I saw a upmarket grocery store which had a type treatment that reminded me of some fashion labels- and sadly, the rest of the branding inside that supermarket/grocery was not at all related to the main logo. And then there are some amazing marks you remember- like the coke logo which you just never forget. The saddest part is that every designer remembers to make their design stand apart but ends up not really doing so. Some think that they need to reinvent the wheel but it really is not possible unless you are a genius or god himself! And the fact that most design solutions may have been used should not mean that we cannot create more solutions from these either. All the time staying true to the spirit of what we are making.
What I am saying is that we should desist from making grungy designs for upscale projects or polished ones for 'street' projects. "Relevance"- that should be the operative word while deciding the USP of our designs. NOT "pretty". After all, a banana's peel stays as fresh as the banana itself.