I am purely in the "form should follow function" camp of audio design.
This usually leads me to love the looks of quite a few speakers that many find not so aesthetically pleasing.
AvantGarde Acoustics, Tidal, Aries Cerat, Acapella, and others.
Ugly speakers to me, are almost anything in a "monkey casket" type of enclosure, no matter how great the finish is on them.
And don’t even get me started on this entire "retro" design trend that has been going on recently.
"Hey! I have an idea. Let’s build speakers that look like they could have been the house brand of just about any mid-fi store of the 70’s, throw a nice finish on it, and call it "Heritage", or "Classic" or some other name marketing can come up with".
"But we’ve learned a long time ago, that rectangular enclosures, with wide baffles, and a raised lip around the edge of the baffle, are sonic compromises".
"Just do it".