Think of aesthetics as a subject not an object
Think of aesthetics as a subject not an object
Contents
01 02 03 Introduction
What is aesthetics?
Kasper Aaberg: Aesthetics to Sensual Perception
04 05 06 Lucienne Roberts: Aesthetics and Happiness
A little aesthetics never hurt nobody?
The First Thing First Manifesto:The Power of Aesthetics
07 - 08 09 Kids who know their fast food logos ‘grow up fat’
Reference
Introduction Some graphic designers to a certain extent underestimate, the power of aesthetics; they underestimate the influence that their work has on the audience. As graphic designers, our job is generally to persuade the audience, to buy a certain product or to support a certain cause. So, it is our responsibility to be mindful of what we persuading people to do and to take responsibility for how our content is perceived. Generally, now we think of aesthetics as the tools guiding the design direction. We do not think of aesthetics as the ‘sensual perception’ of the audience of the content. Kasper Aaberg argues that that philosophers have long dealt with aesthetics as a subject, but it has changed from a subject matter to merely describing an object. Lucienne Roberts also highlights how we have come to think of good work, as one that is deemed appealing or ground-breaking, not one adds to someone’s quality of life. For example, McDonalds logo is considered as a very successful design, yet McDonalds and other fast food companies, are found to increase child and adults’ obesity.
What is aesthetics? Aesthetic (as a noun) is defined as ‘a set of principles underlying the work of a particular artist or artistic movement’, for example, ‘the Cubist aesthetic’1. In the context of Graphic Design, it can be defined as a set principles underlying and guiding the design direction of a particular brand, campaign or piece of work. Thus, it mainly refers to how colours, shapes, typography, layout, etc. are used and applied in a graphic design. Generally, an aesthetic is used in conjunction with a historical period [‘Russian Constructivism’], artistic movement [‘Art Deco’] or current trend [‘hipster’]2. Aesthetics is also a ‘branch of philosophy which deals with questions of beauty and artistic taste’2. ETYMOLOGY The term aesthetic is derived from the Greek aisthētikos [meaning: ‘of or for perception by the senses, perceptive,’ of things, ‘perceptible’, which comes from aisthanesthai ‘to perceive [by the senses or by the mind], to feel’3.
The term was appropriated and coined with new meaning by the German philosopher Alexander Baumgarten in his dissertation Mediationes philosophicae de nonnullis ad poema pertinentibus [“Philosophical considerations of some matters pertaining the poem”] in 1735, even though his later definition in the fragment Aesthetica (1750) is more often referred to as the first definition of modern aesthetics. In the first paragraph of Aesthetica, Baumgarten defined “aesthetica”3: ‘Aeasthetica (theoria liberalium artium, gnoseologia inferior, ars pulchre cogitandi, ars analogi rationis,) est scientia cognitionis sensitivae.’ Translation: Aesthetics is the science of sensual perception4. 1. Oxford Dictionaries 2. Oxford Dictionaries 3. Online Etymology Dictionary 4. Nigel Wilson
Kasper Aaberg:
Aesthetics to Sensual Perception.
Aaberg argues that graphic designers and educators of visual communication should stop using the ‘pretentious and misleading’ word ‘aesthetic’ and go back to the beginning of Baumgarten definition of aesthetics as ‘sensual perception’. He explains that as a consequence of the semantic transformation of the Greek word aesthetic, it has become ‘misunderstood, misinterpreted and misused’. Philosophers as far back as Plato and Aristotle have dealt with the concept of perception in relation with philosophical research about semiotics. However, during the 20th century the term become part of common language, which led the meaning of the word to become more imprecise. Aaberg emphasises that this has affected our concept of aesthetics. Instead, ‘I aesthetic’ one says: ‘something is aesthetic’. He argues that the term has changed from a ‘subject to the object’. It now describes ‘the total of designed or created objects, neutralising the word beauty.’
Lucienne Roberts:
Aesthetics and Happiness.
‘For many designers, the property of goodness lies primarily in aesthetics. When a piece of work is deemed ‘good’, really what we mean is either that it is to our taste or that we think it has merit for expressing the zeitgeist or being ground-breaking in some way. However, if we consider aesthetics more deeply, it relates directly to ‘goodness’ in an ethical sense. Is our work good if it engenders happiness, for example – if it adds to someone’s quality of life by making the world a more delightful or pleasurable place? This argument runs contrary to the belief that ethical work is necessarily less visually engaging, the result of a misconception that design is a luxury add-on associated primarily with wealth. Perhaps this belies the notion that being an ethical designer requires a self-sacrificial subjugation of artistic drive, with a resulting dissatisfaction and unhappiness?’
A little aesthetics never hurt nobody?
The First Thing First Manifesto: The Power of Aesthetics
‘We imagine that we engage directly with the ‘content’ of the magazine, the TV commercial, the pasta sauce, or perfume, but the content is always mediated by design and its design that helps direct how we perceive it and how it makes us feel. The brand-meisters and marketing gurus understand this only too well. The product may be little different in real terms from its rivals. What seduces us is its “image.” This image reaches us first as a visual entity - shape, colour, picture, type. But if it’s to work its effect on us it must become an idea: NIKE! This is the tremendous power of design’.
KIDS WHO KNOW THEIR FAST FOOD LOGOS ‘GROW UP FAT’
An American study, that was carried out by researchers from the University of Oregon, Michigan State University and Ann Arbor Public Schools Preschool and Family Center, found that children who recognise fast food brands are more likely to be obese. The study included two separate samples of children aged three to five years; the first contained 69 children and the second contained 75. The children themselves were asked to complete a picture collage designed to assess “brand recognition� of four major brands: McDonalds, Burger King, Coca-Cola and Pepsi. The researchers then looked at how these responses were associated with child body mass index (BMI), and in both groups, increased brand knowledge was significantly associated with increased BMI.
Reference Aaberg, K. (2016) Aesthetics – a short introduction, Available at: http://www.loveofgraphics.com/graphicdesign/designtheory/aesthetics-an-introduction/ (Accessed: 5th December 2016). First Things First [1964 & 2000], (2006), Available at: http://www.strg-n.com/edu/ hgkz_BuK/files/first_things.pdf (Accessed: 17th October 2016). Roberts, L. (2006) Good: An Introduction to Ethics in Graphic Design, 01 edn., Switzerland: AVA Publishing.
Roberts, L. (2007) Being good, Available at: http://www.eyemagazine. com/opinion/article/being-good1 (Accessed: Accessed: 17th October 2016). Oxford Dictionaries (2016) Aesthetics, Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/aesthetic (Accessed: 9th January 2016 ). Wilson, N. (2013) Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece