ACM Interactions

Authors:
Jon Kolko

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Judging the "trueness" of designed artifacts—objects, websites, or printed publications—is easy. The authenticity of these artifacts depends entirely on their material, craft, and ability to produce an illusion: A company has made a claim, and the object becomes the substantiation of that claim. It's easy to see through an object that is false. The wood veneer will start to pull away from the cheap particleboard beneath; the paint will scratch, and the finish will discolor. Age seems to highlight the charade of mass production, calling attention to cheap materials or the apathetic workers that assembled the items en masse.…

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