MSII - Aesthetics

Aesthetics. So I grew up hearing, on a social interactive level, not to judge people by their outward appearance. Within the design realm aesthetics play a huge role in how your object/project is perceived and interacted with. This reading dives into some of the psychological reasoning behind why humans prefer the look or feel of one things over the other. There are three Aesthetic responses: 1. Rapid | 2. Involuntary | 3. Aggregate Assessment. All of these responses determine how a user approached your product. The two that reactions that I love to observe are the first and second one, especially within a museum context. It’s funny how throughout this reading I mainly imagined a space and product in which kids would interact with because I believe that kids have the most genuine reactions to objects. But as Ulrich mentions examples such as the look and feel of the Iphone and how the old Volkswagen Beetle I started to see how the more adult or young teen crowd also show this slightly more subtle but genuine reactions as well. I do agree that the aesthetic response happens before the analytical response. What draws the user in is the look of a piece. Even though the aesthetic aspect grabs the user, the analytical aspect is just as important to execute.

Cultural aesthetics is a HUGE facet to consider when creating. Beauty standards in general are constantly changing, and when we dive deeper into certain ethnic groups there are a new set of beauty standards specific to the group. Understanding that beauty standards are always shifting is key but knowing how something becomes a beauty standard or popular amongst certain generations is what will allow you to create aesthetically grabbing pieces.

I’m still trying to understand evolutionary aesthetics, but it makes sense that humans are drawn to symmetry. I think of old renaissance churches and how symmetrical they are both inside and outside. There’s a feeling of completion that is associated with symmetry and I do believe that humans are attracted to a complete “put together” product.