"If you see something that you feel is familiar it gives you an important kind of emotional connection"
About this Quote
Familiarity is Newson's quiet hack for getting design under your skin. He frames recognition not as a lack of originality but as a deliberate emotional bridge: if an object feels legible at first glance, you relax around it. In a world of products competing to be the loudest, his point is almost subversive. The most powerful move can be to echo what people already know, then nudge it forward just enough that it feels new without feeling hostile.
The intent here is practical, not sentimental. Newson is talking about access. Familiar cues - a silhouette, a material, a proportion - function like cultural shortcuts. They let the user import memories and expectations into the present encounter. That "important kind of emotional connection" isn't abstract; it's the difference between an object you instantly trust and one you keep at arm's length. It's why a chair that hints at mid-century lines can feel "right" before you sit down, or why a phone interface that borrows from physical metaphors can make a new system feel learnable.
The subtext is a critique of novelty-for-novelty's sake. Designers love to sell disruption, but users live with consequences: confusion, friction, alienation. Familiarity becomes a form of care, a way of respecting human pattern-seeking and the social meanings baked into everyday things. Coming from Newson - whose work often looks futuristic yet oddly approachable - the quote reads like an explanation of his signature: make the future feel like it has a past, so people are willing to invite it into their lives.
The intent here is practical, not sentimental. Newson is talking about access. Familiar cues - a silhouette, a material, a proportion - function like cultural shortcuts. They let the user import memories and expectations into the present encounter. That "important kind of emotional connection" isn't abstract; it's the difference between an object you instantly trust and one you keep at arm's length. It's why a chair that hints at mid-century lines can feel "right" before you sit down, or why a phone interface that borrows from physical metaphors can make a new system feel learnable.
The subtext is a critique of novelty-for-novelty's sake. Designers love to sell disruption, but users live with consequences: confusion, friction, alienation. Familiarity becomes a form of care, a way of respecting human pattern-seeking and the social meanings baked into everyday things. Coming from Newson - whose work often looks futuristic yet oddly approachable - the quote reads like an explanation of his signature: make the future feel like it has a past, so people are willing to invite it into their lives.
Quote Details
| Topic | Art |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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