2 min readAre some people simply born with an eye for design, or is it something you can learn? Maybe it comes down to exposure—the resources you have, the spaces you’ve experienced, or the tools at your fingertips. While we firmly believe that anyone can create a beautiful, thoughtful home, no matter their level of expertise, there is something preternatural about the aesthetic talents most interior designers have. Does having great taste just come naturally to them?
To kick off our new Next Issue talk series, editorial director Joanna Saltz asked three design experts—Emmanuel Platt, Jeremiah Brent, and Omar Nobil—if one can “learn” good design taste, and their perspectives might surprise you.
As the director of merchandising at MoMA, Emmanuel Platt has a fittingly academic take. “You can learn taste,” he assures, after three decades in the business. “You learn from different people, different travels...You meet with artists, designers, manufacturers.” So, if having a good eye comes from gathering perspectives and pulling from work that inspires you, the best way to curate your taste would be to learn from a variety of style icons and to study home projects that excite you.
Omar Nobil, creative director of Design Within Reach, has a different outlook on taste. “I don’t think you can teach taste,” he explains, adding that it’s not his role as a retailer. “Our job is to expose and educate people to what we think is important and to explain to them why,” he says. “What they take from that is up to them and how that evolves their perspectives.”
He believes that taste is individual and serves as a filter through which people design their own worlds. “If you’re lucky, you're exposed and connected to the people who will bring out the best of that,” Nobil continues.
“I don’t think taste is like a gene,” responded interior designer Jeremiah Brent. He cites his small-town background as a personal example that having good taste is a result of being inquisitive, expanding horizons, and tapping into imagination, rather than fate. “The most beautiful taste is just when you see the curiosity of someone's spirit through their work or what they're gravitating towards,” he says.
If new design enthusiasts have “the audacity to try things new and to pair things differently and the freedom to explore,” as Brent puts it, they’re surely on their way to creating a well-honed taste of their own.
For additional expert takeaways on taste, the evolution of design trends, and more, check out the full The Next Issue conversation here:
