In The Grammar of Ornament (1856) Owen Jones argued that, “Construction should be decorated. Decoration should never be purposely constructed.” What he meant by this was that objects should have a clear construction and should be constructed for their purpose, and then decorated. They should be true and should not imitate other materials and the decoration should match the purpose of the object. He thought that bad design was design that imitated nature, used illusionism, falsyfied perspective or disguised the structure of the object. This was also the opinion of the design reformers such as AWN Pugin. When industrialization in the 19th Century took craft out of the workshop, they wanted to use design to reform society and teach people about taste.
Personally I disagree with Jones and the design reformers, I think that there is no definition of good design and that there are no rules you have to follow. Everybody has different interests, different tastes, different perspectives on things, therefore I believe that good design is purely up to the taste and opinion of the designer. Although I do believe there are some guidelines that when followed result in good design, people are entitled to their own opinions.
Above is a photo of a vase which was manufactured by Marcel Wanders Studio in 2001. This is an example of decoration constructed. The decoration doesn't relate to the purpose of the object and the structure is lost. To Jones and the design reformers this would be bad design with false principles and although when I first saw this photo I couldn't tell what its purpose was, it caught my eye because it is unique and interesting.
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