People love to say “taste is subjective.” It’s usually delivered with a shrug, as though that concludes the debate. And yes, personal preference is subjective. Some people like abstract expressionism, and some people like velvet paintings of Elvis and Jesus holding hands. Fine. But good taste is something else entirely, and here’s the uncomfortable truth: personal preference is subjective, good taste is not.
Good taste is pattern recognition refined over time. It’s knowing why something works, not just liking that it does. Good taste is judgment. It’s knowing the difference between bold and sloppy. Between minimal and unfinished. Between provocative and simply confused.
Technique can be learned in a class or from a video with Bob Ross, but technique will only get you so far. Taste is what tells you when to stop. When to remove something. When an idea is strong enough to stand on its own without fifteen decorative apologies hanging off it.
Saying “I like it” is not a design philosophy. Toddlers like glitter, that doesn't make glitter a design philosophy. The artist with taste doesn’t ask, “Do I like it?” They ask, “Is it strong? Is it clear? Is it necessary?” These are different questions. The first protects your ego. The second improves your work.
Developing taste is uncomfortable because it requires comparison. You have to look at truly great work — the kind that has survived decades, sometimes centuries, and measure yourself against it without collapsing into melodrama. This isn't about cruelty or self-sabotage; it’s calibration. Calibrate yourself against what endures, not what trends. If you want to build a serious practice, you must train your eye to recognize strength, clarity, proportion, restraint. Otherwise you’re just bringing boxed wine to a dinner party with the proclamation that taste is subjective, but all you're really declaring is that you have bad taste.
Of course, declaring that "everything is subjective," is much easier. It removes the burden of improvement. But the artists who endure are ruthless editors of their own work. They know that good taste is not about being fashionable — it’s about recognizing quality even when it isn’t convenient. One approach builds standards. The other builds excuses.
"Good design is honest." - Dieter Rams