Aesthetics

[|Aesthetics] is commonly known as a branch of **[|philosophy]** that deals with the sense of beauty and how this varies from person to person. Aesthetics involve all of our senses and contribute to what we perceive as art.

The nature of aesthetics varies within cultures, but in western tradition, aesthetics pertain to art, beauty, and visual culture. Aesthetics does not only deal with paintings or photographs, but is also used in discussion of structures and buildings.

The **[|American Society for Aesthetics]** was formed to promote study in the area of aesthetics and bring light to its potential as a profession.

The **[|principles and elements of design]**, including the use of color, space and typography, contribute to the aesthetic value of a composition.

Images of landscapes and objects in nature are usually high in aesthetic value because they invoke a certain emotion in viewers and arouse the senses.



The "beauty" of flower petals is often discussed in the area of aesthetics and this image captures the details of the petals patterns and the light drops of water that are on some of the petals. [|]


 * Aesthetics in Web Design**

Web design aesthetics is related to using good design principles. Some elements related to web aesthetics deal with:
 * Color
 * Type
 * Layout
 * Animation

An article, “[|Thinking about Web Aesthetics],” by Linda Weinman provides valuable insight into each of the above four elements of web aesthetics.


 * Digital Aesthetics in Web**

A digital aesthetic acknowledges the imprint and residue of digital/electronic technology on its creative product. A discussion of digital aesthetics would seek to explain and evaluate the creative product of digital technology by examining its various factors/relationships in their appropriate contexts, and by identifying that which is unique to digital artworks/processes.


 * Digital vs. Analog Media**

What does "digital" mean and how is it different from "analog?"

[|Qualities of digital media]

[|Digital Convergence]

How does this apply to the Web?



"The [|exaggerated, pixelated typography] expresses the 'digital' and represents a design aesthetic that defines itself in terms of the limitations of the technology. The discontinuous nature of digital technology, it's fundamental limit, is exploited to communicate an idea -- the idea of digital.-"Steven Holtzman __Digital Mosaics__


 * [|The Web is a medium]**

a.It is not print, CD-ROM, television or video

b.We can borrow from other media, but must make it native to the Web

c.When a new medium is introduced it frequently takes on the charasteristics of the media that came before it
 * 1st motion pictures used stationary cameras
 * Early TV news "read" the news to you

d.The Web has been likened to many earlier media; first generation sites were brochure-like; technology strove to deliver TV on the web (when a television works perfectly fine for that)


 * Aesthetics in Communication Design**

In the book [|Communication Design], [|Jorge Frascara] discusses the reasons why aesthetics is a major concern in design. The several reasons include:


 * It creates attraction or rejection "at first sight"
 * It communicates
 * It affects the perceptual time an onlooker dedicates to a design
 * It affects the memorization of the message
 * It affects the active life of the design
 * It affects, in a broad sense, the quality of the environment

Aesthetics can be viewed differently by the audience and it is important that there is a cohesiveness between the public, product, and the message in which the aesthetic dimension is of great importance.

Frascara, Jorge. [|Communication Design]. New York: Allworth Press, 2004.