I've noticed a painful and sad trend in the world: everything looks like everything else. It's like we unknowingly decided on a style and everyone decided to roll with it. From logos to architecture, people take pride in things being "clean" and "modern" but the result is complete blandness.

Here are some examples.

Every logo looks exactly the same. I'm sure they all adhere to some guidelines on readability or digital design but they've lost their individuality. Logos used to reflect the values of the company and the legacy of the brand. Now, they're something that first-year design students could spit out by asking ChatGPT for help.

The same is true for many company websites. They use something called Corporate Memphis style, featuring these colorful 2D people doing random things. You'll even find it in corporate trainings, apps, and in every corner of the corporate internet.

The most salient sameness is found in new construction, which looks like some variation of the above. It looks clean, modern, and new but this could literally be anywhere. Anything that falls outside of this limited style is delegated a relic of the past, something that might define the unique architectural style of a city but is no longer being built. It's no wonder that the older, local, non-bland places in cities are the most expensive. People value beauty and uniqueness in their built environment.

There are many other examples. From cars to shoes to the insides of homes, we find a lot more variety around the world 50 years ago than today. This is a product of hyper-connectivity. A certain style rapidly spreads via the internet and people are eager to adopt it in an effort to have the "best." Before you know it, every website follows the lead of a handful of popular ones and things end up looking the same.

This is a very unfortunate pattern. The world is a lot more interesting with numerous distinct styles, even at the cost of optimization or capturing a larger audience. Smaller, local companies and products that independently decide on their style should thrive, instead of feeling pressured to broaden their appeal. Everything cannot be commoditized.