The Era of Taste: Why Good Design is No Longer About Skill Alone

TThere was a time when being a “good designer” meant you mastered the tools.

It meant you knew your way around Adobe Illustrator, you could easily switch between Photoshop and InDesign, you understood grids, kerning, color theory, typography, the rule of thirds, design principles, etc. All of that used to be a massive barrier to entry.

Now these concepts are the baseline. In recent years, design has become much more accessible. Platforms like Canva and Adobe Express have made it so that almost anyone can create something that looks polished.

So if most people can create something that looks “good,” what actually makes something stand out?

The answer is taste.

Taste is something that is harder to define, but easier to recognize.

It’s the ability to choose the right reference for a project, not just the one that’s trending on social media. It’s knowing when a layout feels heavy and cluttered before you can pinpoint exactly why. It’s understanding that white space is not empty, but intentional.

Good design today isn’t about how much you can tack on. Instead, it’s about restraint.

The strongest work feels like decisions had to be made. It feels like a complex and maybe messy creative vision had to be distilled into one impactful, cohesive execution. You can see this in brands that feel elevated without trying too hard. It’s showcased within their clean typography, controlled color palettes, and visuals that are strong, but don’t fight for attention.

And that’s where the shift from good to great really happens.

Good designers can execute, but great designers decide.

They decide what the brand should feel like, not just what it should look like. They think about cohesion across all consumer touchpoints - how something lives on a website, in a campaign, on social media, in stores, and in print.

Great design exists inside systems, and the best designers aren’t the ones who do everything, but those who know exactly what not to do.