TOPIC OF RESEARCH

I am studying beauty, aesthetics, emotion, and the senses.
I want to find out if beauty can be defined as something more than a visual value within graphic design.
I want my reader to form a deeper definition and understanding of what they deem beautiful, and gain self-awareness.
In order to challenge the idea that beauty in graphic design is purely aesthetic based.

CONTEXT OF RESEARCH

Within the realm of design, completed work is typically judged by the aesthetic qualities of the final outcome; processes, and sometimes concepts, are made secondary to the final outcome when they are equally integral to the overall design. This paper will explore whether there is a link that can be drawn between personal taste and aesthetic value, and final outcomes and the process behind them.

The theory and philosophy of beauty are subjective, but simultaneously difficult to define as something individual. Opinions on visual aesthetics are an individual concept; personal appreciation for something beautiful is an emotional reaction with no reasoning attached to the feeling, however aesthetic value and judgment is subject to a set of rules and values that indicate the attractiveness of an object from a scientific perspective. Beauty is not a quality that is experienced rationally – it is an immersive experience related to sensorial and emotive qualities. Beauty is more a sensation and emotion than a visually aesthetic quality. Because of this emotive aspect, knowing what went into the creation of a design can determine the beauty of the outcome, even if the outcome is less than visually appealing. Emotive impact is the aesthetic impact – the balancing act between the emotion and science of beauty align to the balancing act of the design process and outcome; finding a way to elicit a response from the viewer with the visual outcome while maintaining a well thought out and executed process and concept.

This paper will propose that science and emotion combine to give equal importance to the beauty of both the outcome of a design, but also the “unseen” feeling that is caused by viewing it.

OUTLINE

I) Introduction

1) Thesis Statement — Beauty has long been considered an aesthetic value of judgement, especially in visually creative fields. This definition limits the understanding of what is considered beautiful, and should be re-defined at as an experiential, non-visual element.

2) Oxford English Dictionary definition of Beauty

II) Historical views of beauty and aesthetics in design (including literature review)

1) Historical philosophy of aesthetics

a) Immanuel Kant - Critique of judgment

b) William Hogarth - The Analysis of Beauty

c) David Hume - Of the Standard of Taste

d) Timeline of the development of the philosophy of aesthetics to how it currently influences beauty in design.

2) Beauty in popular culture

a) Design and Advertising

b) Comments on beauty in contemporary graphic design

c) Judgement of beauty and absence of beauty in people

d) Evolution of Art and Beauty

- is beauty considered essential anymore?

e) Denis Dutton - A Darwinian theory of beauty; Dutton debunks the commonly accepted academic explanation of beauty as something in the “culturally conditioned” eye of the beholder by demonstrating that beauty, or aesthetic appreciation, in fact travels across cultures rather easily, hinting at some deeper, universal underpinning of what we find beautiful.

III) Argument 1: Beauty is not visual

1) Definitions

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.” - Helen Keller

2) Where do we find beauty in non-visual spaces?

a) Words

- Poetry is beautiful but not aesthetic.

b) Actions

- There is beauty to be found in people acting with kindness and charity, or in behaving with tenacity and gumption

c) Emotions

- Love is beautiful, but how is it seen?

d) Memory

- Beauty comes from the relationship and memory to the ‘thing’

- Beauty is something that you wait to see or that you remember happening

e) Senses (other than sight)

- Which senses are more prone feeling beauty?

f) Are all the non-visual ways of experiencing beauty linked?

3) Beauty is not quantifiable

a) how would you measure beauty?

IV) Argument 2: Beauty is not a universal ideal

1) Definitions

2) Beauty ideals have changed

a) The myth of “Beauty”

3) Angles of beauty

a) Beauty from a sense of Bauhaus versus from a sense of Postmodernism
- can it exist in both places

b) What does beauty look like across cultures?

c) Are there any universal ideals?

4) What power lies in symmetry? Then and Now?

5) Is beauty fluid?

V) Argument 3: Beauty must manifest in some way to exist.

1) Definitions

2) In what ways can beauty manifest itself?

a) if it isn’t visible, how can beauty be manifested?

3) Perception

a) Perception of beauty
- What is the perception of beauty in design?
- Design has to “look pretty”

4) Is the vehicle through which we see beauty what makes it beautiful?

a) Transitional moment of beauty. When do you register it? Are you anticipating it or remembering it?
- Emotions
- Memory
- Senses (other than sight)

5) Finding Beauty in Compulsion

a) When we see something compelling but not aesthetically pleasing, what is the beauty in it? Why are we compelled by it?