Visual aesthetics according to Katherine Nolan, August 31, 2012:
Aesthetics encompasses the philosophic idea of beauty. It can be argued that beauty is perceived uniquely to each person. Although this may be true, there is a scientific explanation to understanding what is commonly visually pleasing to the eye. For example, any photographer is familiar with the rule of thirds, meaning that the main focus of the photo will look better framed according to the rule. The rule of thirds is so widely accepted that most modern cameras (including the iPhone) have the option of triggering a grid on the screen prior to the shot. The rule of thirds is just one of many common practices used in the field of design.
Professor Motley, I may have made the conscious decision to not raise my hand when asked who Googled the term “aesthetics,” but only to get a running start. So, I owe you a response that is completely derived from my vastly expanded knowledge on the subject.
Aesthetics – the visual elements of an object.
Not quite as eloquent as the philosophic idea of beauty, but I don’t like inserting the word beauty into the definition of aesthetics. I do agree with the definition but I think it can be easily misunderstood. Beauty, along with aesthetics, are constantly being redefined by society. The desired figure of a woman has shifted to all sides of the spectrum and hairstyles shift even faster.
The same concept applies to design. As August 31 Katie said, there are widely accepted “rules” to creating an aesthetically pleasing design and we have Gestalt to thank for his Principles of Design. A tremendous amount of weight lies on the aesthetics of an object and it’s relation to the whole, including similarities and differences. The human eye’s natural instinct is to look for patterns in order to fully understand the visual. The inclusion or omission of a defined pattern influences the translation of the visual.
For this reason, when artifacts are designed to be interactive, the visual aesthetics can ultimately help the user or make he/she work harder. For example, buttons on the internet are consistently designed to look like a button because there are distinct aesthetics of a button that are familiar to users i.e. the placement, color, style decoration, hover animation, container, etc. Designers may use the exact opposite aesthetic techniques to undermine the button. This decision is often used in games where a user is encouraged to explore the interface looking for clues that are only activated by rollovers. Very interesting. Two different aesthetics, two different objectives. Visual aesthetics is crucial to visual communication. Either the button screams for attention or it wants to be found – but that isn’t communicated via text; it is communicated through carefully planned aesthetic decisions.