AESTHETICS

What is Aesthetics? 1. It is a branch of philosophy dealing with the creation and appreciation of beauty in design. 2. Aesthetics is essential to Industrial Design. The concept of aesthetics in design is often related to the nice looking shape of a product, a trendy colour scheme, or a pleasant surface texture.

Pragmatist Aesthetics
1. Aesthetics can be a powerful design driver that helps connect dynamic form, social and ethical aspects. To explain why we think aesthetics can have this power, we turn to the philosophical tradition called Pragmatist Aesthetics. 2. Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition centered on the linking of practice and theory. It describes a process where theory is extracted from practice, and applied back to practice to form what is called intelligent practice. 3. A number of principles can be outlined that characterize the Pragmatist approach to aesthetics. a) Firstly, for Pragmatists, the aesthetic has practical use, next to intrinsic value. b) Secondly, the aesthetic experience of an object cannot be understood without its socio-cultural context. c) Pragmatists identify the often-ignored role of the body in aesthetics.

3 Central principles useful in coordinating human behavior in design

USE AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE AS A DESIGN MECHANISM INVOLVE THE WHOLE HUMAN BEING THROUGHOUT THE DESIGN PROCESS

WORK IN SOCIAL CONTEXT

EXAMPLES
1. INDUSTRIAL DESIGN Designers need many aesthetic qualities to improve the marketability of manufactured products: smoothness, shininess/reflectivity, texture, pattern, curviness, color, simplicity, usability, velocity, symmetry, naturalness, and modernism. The Design Aesthetics section focuses on design, appearance and the way people perceive products.

2.MARKETING Marketing team focuses on the aesthetic qualities of consumer, the use of aesthetics in marketing concerns itself with the "trade dress" of a product, such as its branding, its commercial representation, or the reputation of its producer. Marketing consists of intriguing the human mind to think in a direction where it would not have done so previously - or not without outside input. Human curiosity, self gain or mental adjustment is what drives marketing development itself

3. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Aesthetics in information technology has focused upon the study of human-computer interaction and creating userfriendly devices and software applications. Software itself has aesthetic dimensions, as do information-technology-mediated processes and experiences such as computer video games and virtual reality simulations. Aesthetics in information technology do also apply to the act of designing software itself. Aesthetics in programming can also have a practical level: Under the right conditions, elegant code can run faster and more efficiently and be less prone to errors..

 WEBSITE DESIGN In a recent study Moshagen and Thielsch found four core dimensions of website aesthetics: 1 Simplicity 2 Diversity 3 Colors 4 Craftsmanship Simplicity and diversity have repeatedly been treated as formal parameters of aesthetic objects throughout the history of empirical aesthetics. Colors are a very critical property of aesthetic objects. Craftsmanship addresses the skilful and coherent integration of the relevant design dimensions.

Best practices for Aesthetic Website Design

a) Create visual clues based on groupings; related items or links are grouped together while unrelated items are separated. b) Use headings and subheadings to allow visual scanning of content. c) Use headings, subheadings, font sizes, bold fonts and italic fonts in proportion to the importance of the item. d) Align elements on a page so that they are all visually connected; size all elements on the page to create balance and unity; nothing should look out of place unless you have a specific reason for the effect. e) Choose a font style that supports the site atmosphere and stick to it; limit styles to 2 at the most. f) Use images and photos for visual appeal and to communicate ideas. g) Use one set of design elements across your website.