I finished <i>Designed for Use</i> by Lukas Mathis and I'm in the middle of <i>Design for Hackers</i> by David Kadavy, and both state precisely the opposite: designing can be learned, and with sufficient training anyone can achieve good, even great design. Awesome design is something else entirely but saying that "only a few" can reach the top is a tautology.<p>> <i>The definition from good design has shifted from good looking to being good itself.</i><p>Ever since Dieter Rams [0] design has never been about "good looking" as an end in itself. In fact aesthetics is almost a byproduct of good design.<p>[0] <a href="http://www.vitsoe.com/en/gb/about/dieterrams/gooddesign" rel="nofollow">http://www.vitsoe.com/en/gb/about/dieterrams/gooddesign</a>