... When looking at photos in HD and when you only see a small section of the wall as in the post image here (...), the darker bricks stand out "disturbingly" in the overall picture. However, when viewed from, say, eight meters away from the start of the driveway, the image reverses: the "cleaned" linking will appear unnatural and on average too bright.
Then I should probably mention that we have also seen the shown "Vischering" clinker fully installed from 8 m distance. That's also where the photo in #1 comes from. We are well aware that display boards only give an impression, which is why we wander through the settlements ;-)
Some general info for you about our building project:
We will build a single-family house with an architect on a 1000 m² plot in the countryside. We are in the planning phase; currently, it looks like about 150 m² of living space, gable roof, garage... something like this:
Wilder Verband is our first choice, with medium-gray joints for Vischering.
I would even be interested in doing the masonry myself, but I am an absolute novice... basically skilled and precise though. Would it make sense to do some work myself, e.g. with a skilled worker by my side..? It just seems like a fixed idea to me.