What is beauty, and who quantifies or qualifies it? Should it be us, as designers, whose job it is to make things “look good”?

If something is not beautiful, does that make it ugly by default, and is there a space for things to be visually unattractive in a field based in aesthetics? In this studio you will consider the ideas of beauty and ugliness, and how important the concept of both are to delivering a message to the viewer. 

In Eye of the Beholder you will be encouraged to push against the universally held definition of beauty, and reflect on your personal interpretation of beauty and ugliness. You will take an active approach in coming up with the design outcomes that most effectively communicate a message to your audience, while not shying away from using ugliness, or making the viewer uncomfortable – rocking the boat and shocking people might be the best way to speak to them!

The primary focus of this studio is to challenge the idea that successful communication in design can only be achieved by presenting a visually pleasing — or "beautiful" — image. The audience can be engaged through ugliness, disgust and discomfort. You will redefine what you think about beauty and ugliness through research and analysis, communicate your message to your audience with emotion, and push the boundaries of conventional beauty through your design outcomes.

In this studio you will have the opportunity to create physical and virtual design outcomes. Research and analysis will be presented through reports, with gathered examples of referenced work. Through in class workshops, various topic choices, messages and audiences will be explored to ascertain how to deliver your message most effectively. By the end of semester you are expected to deliver a high quality design outcome, focussed on communication to your audience, with your own definition of beauty and ugliness at the forefront.

There are four assessment tasks for this studio, the briefs are made up of a range of milestone deliverables that are interconnected and build upon each other.

Brief 01: SKO to reflect on and describe your studio experience and learning outcomes (30%)

Brief 02: Research your definition of beauty (25%)

Brief 03: Explore topics for a final design outcome (15%)

Brief 04: Create your final design outcome (30%)

In Defense of Beautiful Design, Perrin Drumm for AIGA Eye On Design

Embracing Chaos in Design, Greg Breeding for Medium

Great design requires discomfort. Embrace it, Daniel Kerris for Medium