Aesthetic Evaluation of Design Objects

Abstract

This paper discusses the beauty of design, i.e. the foundation for the aesthetic experience of design. In scholarly discussions, the affirmation of an intellectual approach to the subject of the beauty of design is stated. On the other hand, this work promotes an approach to the beauty of design based on the everyday aesthetics and the expansion of the field of aesthetics beyond traditional aesthetics. Aestheticians who promote an intellectual approach to the phenomenon of design attribute priority to the sense of vision over other senses when assessing its value, adhering to the traditional aesthetic approach. The central thesis of the paper is that the beauty of design cannot be understood based on the traditional definition of aesthetic experience, which was aligned with the experience of art, but in the complex experience of the object in action. The foundation of the aesthetics of design is built on the trail of everyday aesthetics, which will truly enable the inclusion of use as one of the key parameters when assessing the aesthetic experience. Function, as an integral part of the aesthetic experience, is not considered only intellectually. The goal is to discover the uniqueness of the aesthetic dimensions of design when understanding the object of design in our activities, taking into account the long-term evolutionary process of the object. The paper reveals Henri Focillon's concept of tactility as relevant for the judgment of design objects in everyday life. The beauty of design is therefore not measured by the standards of aesthetic experience according to traditional cut. In the case of design, a true expansion of the aesthetic area occurs in such a way that its usefulness to man becomes a key parameter of aesthetic experience.