Aesthetics in Design

The aesthetic response to an artifact is the immediate feelings evoked when experiencing that artifact via the sensory system. I consider aesthetic responses to be different from other cognitive responses in at least three ways. Aesthetic response is rapid, usually within seconds of exposure to the artifact. Aesthetic response is involuntary, requiring little if any expenditure of cognitive effort. Aesthetic response is an aggregate assessment biased either positively (e.g, beauty or attraction) or negatively (e.g., ugliness or repulsion) and not a nuanced multi-dimensional evaluation.