Aesthetics why are they not important?

[rjb70stoke]

We live in a society that - generally - still holds the visual arts in very low regard. Students of art and design are still thought to be on a 'bit of a skive' compared to those studying 'real' subjects (like accountancy or chemistry) and many still consider any care for (or interest in) aesthetics as 'arty farty'.

I think we distrust good design that goes beyond the purely functional and that we have a feeling that great looks (and attention to details in finish and materials) must be diverting money away from something more important. As someone said earlier, "style over substance". Our distrust of pleasing design is inherent in that, very commonly used, phrase. It implies something stylish can't also have equal substance and that you must choose one or the other.

And in my opinion, this is where Apple scores over almost all other manufacturers.

Its products are, generally, beautifully designed, they are also incredibly robust and reliable, and on top of those things, almost without exception they are an absolute joy to use.

Unusually in modern life, Apples products are style and substance in equal measure.

 

[pauljack00]

A great debate.

Thats what made Steve Jobs special, he had an idea about how it should look and work then sent his enginers away to make it work. I think that most companies do it the otherway round and don't even consider what a monster they are releasing onto the general public.

In general I just feel that HiFi manufactures are missing an oportunity and they really need to employ at least one artistic person to work on the design of their in some case fantastic products.

I love B&O stuff but you would think there is more room in the market than just one company who make beautiful equipment.

People buy Apple computers then abuse them by dual booting Windows on it, why because they look beautiful.

I bought the Ruark R4i because it looks and sounds wonderful, however whichever idiot designed the usability of the product needs shooting.

Case in point the wilson Audio Sophia 3 speakers for £16k, they look like they are just aweful, disgusting, vile.

http://www.whathifi.com/review/wilson-audio-sophia-3

 

[BigH]

We live in a society that - generally - still holds the visual arts in very low regard. Students of art and design are still thought to be on a 'bit of a skive' compared to those studying 'real' subjects (like accountancy or chemistry) and many still consider any care for (or interest in) aesthetics as 'arty farty'.

I think we distrust good design that goes beyond the purely functional and that we have a feeling that great looks (and attention to details in finish and materials) must be diverting money away from something more important. As someone said earlier, "style over substance". Our distrust of pleasing design is inherent in that, very commonly used, phrase. It implies something stylish can't also have equal substance and that you must choose one or the other.

Have you seen what many produce?

 

[AEJim]

I think Hi-Fi, at least the mainstream Hi-Fi (Dock systems, Soundbars etc) is definitely improving but some of the more serious hobbyist side is still a little "garden shed" in execution. Many products use great components and just throw them in an engineer-designed box, some things look great but attach a four or five figure price tag for the privelege.

It's tough as a manufacturer, you have to satisfy worldwide markets where tastes vary so much. Hi-Fi, especially speakers, which are more of a furniture item than something like a phone or tablet have to have that as a consideration as well as cost of using expensive materials on a larger scaled item.

I designed our (Acoustic Energy) 3-Series to be clean and simple in black and white but China want a wood veneer (tricky with the thin borders on the baffle), I designed the new 1-Series originally as a very small system with a slightly larger Compact-1 as the foundation but it seems Russia and China wanted something bigger, hence the now more conventional range being launched. For Europe I think the smaller range had a lot of merit.

We used to use design agencies and they often struggled to get it right, I have many ugly designs for older ranges (which may not have been that pretty in the end anyway!) but it seems difficult to come up with something fresh and styllish when you're working with wooden boxes. The products out there that have had more design input often divide opinion where "safe" nice veneers on a standard rectangular box seem to be mostly acceptable. In business most seem to veer on the safe side understandably.

I can think of one particular recent electronics product that was designed by an agency we've used in the past that drew almost universal condemnation, I expect over many meetings the look grew on the team and they got used to it which happens often (we had a similar thing with our Linear series from about 10 years ago - which looked fine if you left the grilles on, terrible if not!). It's why I now design all our products myself, at least they look how I want them to. Even then, you get input from many people which always gets messy and I often get overruled on certain things which I think are right but a big distributor may not be keen on...

I think good design usually comes from an individual with a clear vision, the more people that get involved the more you're likely to end up with something bland or safe that has less risk, which makes sense in many ways but is hardly conducive to great design. With Hi-Fi being a rapidly changing and shrinking field many don't want to take risks sadly.

 

[matt49]

It's worth taking a quick look at the 'gorgeous gadgets' thread on the Hifi Wigwam forum. Obviously a lot of design effort has gone into this stuff; whether it's successful is another matter ...

Matt

 

[matt49]

I think Hi-Fi, at least the mainstream Hi-Fi (Dock systems, Soundbars etc) is definitely improving but some of the more serious hobbyist side is still a little "garden shed" in execution. Many products use great components and just throw them in an engineer-designed box, some things look great but attach a four or five figure price tag for the privelege.

It's tough as a manufacturer, you have to satisfy worldwide markets where tastes vary so much. Hi-Fi, especially speakers, which are more of a furniture item than something like a phone or tablet have to have that as a consideration as well as cost of using expensive materials on a larger scaled item.

I designed our (Acoustic Energy) 3-Series to be clean and simple in black and white but China want a wood veneer (tricky with the thin borders on the baffle), I designed the new 1-Series originally as a very small system with a slightly larger Compact-1 as the foundation but it seems Russia and China wanted something bigger, hence the now more conventional range being launched. For Europe I think the smaller range had a lot of merit.

We used to use design agencies and they often struggled to get it right, I have many ugly designs for older ranges (which may not have been that pretty in the end anyway!) but it seems difficult to come up with something fresh and styllish when you're working with wooden boxes. The products out there that have had more design input often divide opinion where "safe" nice veneers on a standard rectangular box seem to be mostly acceptable. In business most seem to veer on the safe side understandably.

I can think of one particular recent electronics product that was designed by an agency we've used in the past that drew almost universal condemnation, I expect over many meetings the look grew on the team and they got used to it which happens often (we had a similar thing with our Linear series from about 10 years ago - which looked fine if you left the grilles on, terrible if not!). It's why I now design all our products myself, at least they look how I want them to. Even then, you get input from many people which always gets messy and I often get overruled on certain things which I think are right but a big distributor may not be keen on...

I think good design usually comes from an individual with a clear vision, the more people that get involved the more you're likely to end up with something bland or safe that has less risk, which makes sense in many ways but is hardly conducive to great design. With Hi-Fi being a rapidly changing and shrinking field many don't want to take risks sadly.

Interesting thoughts: thanks!