Like all forms of design, visual design is about problem solving, not about personal preference or unsupported... — Bob Baxley

Like all forms of design, visual design is about problem solving, not about personal preference or unsupported opinion.

Author: Bob Baxley

Insight: We live in a world where everyone's a critic. Someone sees a website, app, or poster and instantly declares it "ugly" or "pretty," as if aesthetics were pure opinion—like arguing about ice cream flavors. But good design isn't actually subjective in that way. It's solving a real problem: How do you guide someone's eye to what matters? How do you make instructions clear? How do you build trust with a stranger in three seconds? This matters because it shifts how we think about complaints. When your friend says a design is bad, the real question is: bad at what? Is it failing to communicate? Confusing users? Slowing them down? Or does it just not match their personal taste? These are totally different things. A brutalist, bare-bones website might look cold to you, but it might be solving the exact problem it needs to solve: lightning-fast load times and zero distraction. The unexpected part is that this actually makes design more democratic, not less. It's not about what the designer personally prefers or what impresses other designers. It's about whether it works for the people using it. That's measurable, testable, and real—which means almost anyone can learn to think like a designer, even if you can't draw.