Best - Virus and Nord Lead series and I like the layout of REV2. Now that you brought this up it got me thinking that maybe that is one of the reasons why I GAS those synths while not really needing them THAT much…
Ugliest ever… Roland Aira for sure.
What is this mixer? DM me too please!
The Machinedrum and the Monomachine are amazing looking. I think it has been steadily downhill for Elektron (design-wise) since.
Terrible design. So bad I wouldn’t know where to start 
BUT it looks beautiful and totally right in HIS hands.
Sorry for reviving this ages old thread, but looks do matter. I’m an illustrator/graphic designer at day, synth enthusiast at night. And I just can’t stand to look at hideous synths. In my book, the ugliest synth by far is Andromeda by Alesis. I don’t care if it’s the most powerful modern analog synth or whatever, but it sure is butt ugly. I could never own one, or I’d have to play it with my eyes closed/tied.
I also remember being very set back by Octatrack and the dark trinity when they first came out. Round buttons looked just terrible and the colourscheme seemed bland when I had been grown on the aluminium beauties; MD and MnM with their beautiful rectangular buttons. Now they’ve grown on me. I do prefer the looks of MK2 trinity, but the pricing on the MK1s does wonders.
For me, when it comes to gear, looks do not matter in any way shape or form. Seriously. It can have a picture of a hairy butt on it & I would play with that butt with no regrets. As long as it was fun & I liked the sound.
Actually I would like a synth with a butt on it, it would be funny. All kinds of fun with that.
Too be honest I have never even thought of it. When I gaze at my set up I’m thinking “wow, it’s so beautiful”. Because I’m passionate about it, I think ALL gear is beautiful.
I was going to say how it looks isn’t it’s purpose, but that could be said about clothes, cars, ect., so not a good point. & I can see why people care about looks when it comes to gear. But to not buy something that you think sounds amazing and has a great workflow just because of how it looks? I couldn’t imagine.
If you want a synth that’s fun to play with a great workflow it will be designed well, so yeah looks matter.
Don’t get me wrong tho, I completely understand where you are coming from 
The same could be said that looks DO matter because of how passionate you are about it.
Tell that story to your girlfriend :)))
I am a girl 
& I’m single
I think looks can come under the banner of UI. It does count imho. MDUW vs tr 909? Both look good only one counts 
About this hairy butt synth… no. Not going this road 
Looks do matter, but paint or decals have been a help when stuff is just too ugly but too nice sounding.
Airas are ugly AF. Had them on my GAS list, played around in a shop and the look and feel totally let me down.
Nord and Access gear is mostly great imo, so was elektron before the UFO launch of the MKIIs.
Some people mentioned that if it has a good sound & great workflow it will look good… but a lot of complaints about looks are the color, which has nothing to do with sound or workflow. A lot of people hate on the look of the Moog Grandmother due to the color, yet I bet it has a great workflow … & demos sound good to me.
Personally I would even have fun playing with this:
Might not have a good workflow or sound, but that’s the fun. To transform something ugly into something beautiful. To conquer challenges. To CREATE something. If the synth, drum machine or DAW does all the work what’s the point. I made some beautiful songs in a DAW with vst’s one time, but the vst’s already sounded beautiful & the sequencer put the hits where they’re supposed to be. So in the end I didn’t feel like I, ME, made a beautiful song… kind of going off topic here, but my point is, for example, I make a song, someone asks how I made it & I show them a kiddy toy, couple maracas & a sp404… to me that’s more impressive then making it with a pretty $2,000 synth that sounds beautiful from the start.
I’m not hating, just trying to provoke thought. I DO understand…I don’t think a lot of you are saying that looks are THE MOST important thing… I think a lot of you are saying that a well crafted piece of gear is beautiful because it’s well crafted. & yeah, if you have a nice studio with amazing gear, yet the keyboard I posted above was smack in the middle it would throw the whole look off.
I do have gear that I love the look of…… Ms-20 mini…… MPC 2500 blacked out…… Boss Me-50 guitar pedal…… I do like the looks of Op-1, but I realized when I show it off to people that don’t make music I feel weird about it, like I’m just showing them a toy……. If they only knew! But I just don’t think it’s important… I don’t think it matters.
& I’m surprised how many people think Aira’s are ugly. Just black boxes with a green stripe. Reminds me of a Kawasaki Ninja.
The Source looks kind of like a toy too, but there’s something in the early eighties futurism that always gets me. The Grandmother is in my mind a straight descendant of the Source and for that reason I consider it to be beautiful too. Toyish yes, but beautiful.
They’re all well balanced and a joy to watch, magnificent pieces of industrial design, as is the OP-1. IMHO the design elevates OP-1 and Source to the level of design classics alongside pieces of danish furniture or italian juice presses. It makes them more than mere synthesizers, they’re beautiful to watch even when they’re turned off.
And this is the opposite of balanced.
hahaha
That’s great!
Design, aesthetics, and workflow all work together to inspire me to create and push my creative boundaries in new directions. They’re all of a piece. I have to LOVE an instrument to go deep with it. Crucial stuff.
Aesthetics definitely matter! If I have to look at something hideous, with a cheap plastic feel… It’ll affect how much I want to interact with it.
Ugly synth? Two words… Studiologic. Sledge. 
I actually happen to love the Moog Grandmother design! To each their own…
Looks definitely matter to me as I’m quite shallow.
But then again, I also have low standards for what looks good - only thing I can think of off the top of my head I can’t stand looking at is those emu groove boxes.
