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B E A U T Y +By Mark Dziersk, FIDSAGuest Editor

As senior vice president of design,Mark Dziersk is responsible for all aspects ofindustrial design management at HLB. He also has worked as a consultant forseveral leading design firms and as an adjunct professor at Rhode Island School ofDesign and the New England School of Art & Design. He holds an MFA in indus-trial design from the University of Michigan.

Why is it that sometimes we just have to have a certain product?

The first PowerBook had it; the latest titanium PowerBook has it. The runaway success of: the Miata,

the Audi TT; enter them into the exclusive category of products that are wildly successful, desired—

even lusted after—by more than just a few people. In many cases these products command a premi-

um before they are introduced. Sometimes even those intimately involved in their development don’t

see it coming. Why don’t all new products have that magic—that certain allure? Perhaps it has to do

with being the first, or the smallest, or the most beautiful. Perhaps sometimes the key factor is timing.

Eames chairs had it, lost it and now have it again. The Corbusier Chaise has always had it.

Is “it” beauty? When is it more than beauty?

In this issue of Innovation, we offer to you a better understanding of this mysterious phenomena.

From Tucker Viemeister’s insightful adaptation of Maslow’s theory to Clive Dilnot’s academic dissec-

tion of the word beauty, this collection of articles contains a unique analysis of a topic of great signifi-

cance. We ask and answer many important questions. How does technology enter into the equation?

Enabling technology, manufacturing technology? Newness? Uniqueness? Appliances in cars? Can

“it” be quantified or codified? The obvious advantage of being able to get our arms around what

seems at first so subjective is to be able to execute that “it” quality repeatedly. Also included in this

issue you will find an explanation of beauty based on its mathematical roots, the trends that define

recent product successes, and tips for executing designs that transcend expectations of success.

In a down economy juxtaposed with the seriousness of recent events, exploring this topic may

seem luxurious. Practical advice seems to better fit the order of the day. But this is a time of greatly

renewed interest in design, especially by businesses looking for a competitive edge. Ten years ago,

when finance and distribution ruled the agenda, this topic probably would have been avoided. Today

it must be analyzed and understood to broaden our understanding and to raise new issues of dia-

logue and debate. When the economy and some form of normalcy return, I believe designers will be

drinking from a fire hose. When this happens, everyone is going to want the products they make and

the services they offer to achieve “it.”

One of the unspoken secrets in working on behalf of IDSA is to direct each effort into a subject

matter that you yourself crave to know more about. This ensures that your effort is always rewarding.

I have always been very curious about why some products have “it,” what exactly “it” is and how “it”

can be bottled, so to speak. Through this assignment as guest editor, I have gained a much better

understanding. After you’ve read and absorbed the insights and suggestions of these very talented

authors, I hope you will also.

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BEAUTILITY

By Tucker Viemeister, FIDSATucker Viemeister is heading up Springtime-USA,a new industrial design studio associated withthe young Dutch group in Amsterdam.Tucker was one of the founders of Smart Design,openedfrogdesign’s NewYork studio in 1997 and was executive vice president of research and develop-ment at Razorfish.E-mail:Tucker@springtime.nl.

Along with speed and size, beauty is a strong

mechanism for creating product lust. Sensuous

feel, attractive looks, smooth function, fine crafts-

manship, elegant materials—any one of these attributes builds a

bridge to the user and creates an emotional bond, transforming

an object into an object of desire. But the formula is not easy to

apply: Beauty is to function as making love is to lust. Lust is

trashy. (Gee, I feel like I’m writing some pulp romance here!) It’s

one of those seven deadly sins. But a certain level of lust is

necessary for good love making, and more important, beauty

is a necessary component of a fulfilled life.

As a nation, Americans don’t value beauty enough.It doesn’t rank high on our list of daily needs. We don’tdiscuss it much (unless we’re talking about cosmetics orcelebrities). We aren’t very beauty literate. So let’s dis-cuss it now.…

Beauty: The Goal of CivilizationEven though we all think we know what is beautiful,there is no consensus. We can’t agree on specificexamples, but we do share a general formula for beau-ty: Beauty is a combination of very pleasing sensual andcerebral stuff. There is an intellectual component to abeautiful person and an emotional component to abeautiful mathematical proof. The experience of beautyis the result of convergence of body, mind and soul.Form and function melt together. Art and science dance.

It’s hard to argue with “natural beauty.” Everyone is awed by breathtaking landscapes, colorful flowersand delicate butterflies. The trick comes when peopletry to make beautiful things. A beautiful manmade thingproduces a different kind of pleasure; it somehow tapsinto the order of the universe. Making beautiful thingsmakes our lives worthwhile. Rowena Reed Kostellow,one of founders of Pratt’s industrial design program,once said, “Pure, unadulterated beauty should be thegoal of civilization.”

Why do Americans give beauty second-class priori-ty? Clear the forest, build a barn, build a highway. Eatyour dinner, then you can have dessert. Although beautyis hard to quantify and may not be a necessity, it is not aluxury either. Beauty has a practical purpose in our lives.It has utility. That’s why I have coined the word “beautili-

ty.” I want people to realize that even in our mercenaryworld, beauty is good to create. Beautility is a new wayof framing beauty, as something that serves a function,that elevates it to the bottom line.

The Beauty ExpertsDesigners are experts in the application of beauty. Wehave the talent and training to enhance the function,look and feel of products. For the past few decades,however, designers have been more concerned with thejob of making things work better. Engineering andergonomics and marketing have soaked up the design-er’s attention. This becomes obvious when looking at theIDEA winners. But regardless of how important the mea-sures of innovation and environmental impact are, beau-ty is the number one criteria for good design.

Designers may do a lot of other things (research,strategy, branding, marketing), but in the product devel-opment cycle, designers are the only ones with the abili-ty and practice to make things look good. At Pratt Ilearned to understand the structure of visual relation-ships and how to manipulate forms. I learned how to cri-tique form and how to create a good one. Designersshape the world! We make things work well and lookbeautiful—we’ve always combined intellectual and sen-sual. Design is the convergence of science and art.

Designers seem to forget: The design professionsare the only ones (perhaps besides plastic surgeons)whose job it is to create beauty. We are key players inthe beauty business. It is important for us not to shyaway from style. We must not abdicate our role in mak-ing the world a better-looking place.

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Beauty’s WorthAdolf Loos was wrong. Decoration is not a crime, it’sa job! Although decoration is applied to the surface, it is valuable. Some of the good reasons to add decora-tion are: ■ Continuity: to connect things across different

materials; ■ Camouflage: to disguise poor workmanship; ■ Sign: to signify ownership or to add meaning with

brand logos or religious symbols;■ Attractiveness: to make it prettier or just to add

embellishment. In my work, beauty has two reasons for being: to

help sell stuff, and just to be wonderful. Theoretically, abetter-looking thing sells better than an ugly one. It’sattractive, therefore it attracts! So, making things beauti-ful helps business. (Although designers often disagreewith clients and consumers about which design is morebeautiful.) Designers usually don’t get to create some-thing simply wonderful at work, unless there is somecommercial value associated with just being wonderful.Artists get to make beautiful things for no other reasonthan that they want to.

In America, making something beautiful doesn’tcarry the same weight as making money. What’s beau-ty? You can’t buy anything with it! That’s why we are fas-cinated by the way artist Jeff Koons’ work is worth lotsof money and don’t really care whether his artifacts arebeautiful. (But his work is definitely better than DonaldTrump’s, which is only about money!)

Beauty Is the TopIn 1943, psychologist Abraham Maslow explained histheory of human motivation with his famous hierarchy ofneeds. He put our most basic, physical needs at thebottom and our psychological needs at the top. Think of

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The Beauty Spectrum From a pragmatic point of view, for something to bebeautiful, it has to work. Or even better, something hasto work to be beautiful. The Brooklyn Bridge exists onlybecause of its function, but it is beautiful. In fact, func-tion was so important to the Pilgrims and their Puritanethics, beauty was almost a sin. Viennese ArchitectAdolf Loos declared, “Decoration is a crime!” Eventoday, Americans find it hard to spend money on beautyor hiring an art teacher for their kids.

Luckily, architect Louis Sullivan gave beauty somepractical significance. “Form follows function,” hedeclared. Form and function are big criteria for that sci-entific, rational, functionalist, intellectual, objective view,but that’s only one end of the aesthetics spectrum.

At the other end of the spectrum is the emotionalview—art. Feelings and sensation blur together in peo-ple’s minds, disconnecting from practical needs.Sunsets, flowers, Barbie: all beautiful. It is not practicalfunction that makes natural wonders beautiful. Peoplesay a bouquet of roses is beautiful. (Of course, you canmake them more beautiful by adding a stuffed teddybear!) Shiny things are beautiful; if they are gold, theyare even more beautiful! Sparkly things like diamondsand rubies are beautiful. The most sensual thing is abeautiful person.

When humans make beauty, it is a balance betweenthe physical, sensual, emotional and intellectual. It’s acombination of art and science. The Eiffel Tower: function-ally sublime, beautiful rivets and girders—yet totally irr a-tional and emotionally fulfilling! The French went to gre a tlengths and expense to build that tower. They understandthat beauty is valuable in itself. (After all, Paris is synony-mous with fashion.) Contemplating a beautiful thingm a kes people feel good;it inspires, heals and inv i g o ra t e s.Pure beauty has practical wo rt h . Style is substance.

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cave men on the bottom level searching for food to eat,air to breathe and sex: simple survival level. They thenmove to the next level when they move into a cave,build a fire and find a stick to protect themselves; now,they can look around for love and respect. Then at last,when they have a warm cave, a club, a loving familyand a nice tribe, they can climb to the top of the pyra-mid. From there, they have time to wonder about whothey should be and how to transform their inner selves.Maslow’s idea is that having unfulfilled needs lower onthe pyramid prevents a person from moving up to thenext level.

Maslow created his hierarchy a long time ago andcouldn’t take into consideration the needs and desiresof Americans today. So, I’ve made a new hierarchy for2001. Imagine the suburbanite in his Dockers; he’s got ahouse, refrigerator and a car for survival. Now he needsto get comfortable with a Lay-Z-Boy recliner and abeer—he’s reached the second level: convenience.America is the land of comfort and convenience. We’rethe masters of the entertainment delivery system—all inthe pursuit of happiness! OXO GoodGrips make peelingpotatoes fun!

Are you having fun yet? If you answer “yes!” you’vealmost reached the top of the pyramid. Although it’s niceto have fun at work and everyone likes to escape into aHollywood film experience, I can’t believe that “fun” is

the ultimate goal of life. Like Maslow says, people desiresomething that transcends their own selves. Beauty isthat worthy goal, connecting to the biggest ideas andrichest feelings. Although it is fleeting and ever expand-ing, beauty is satisfying.Making beauty is the ultimateexperience. Seeing, feeling, contemplating, enjoying abeautiful composition, painting—these are peak MihalyCsikszentmihalyi “flow” moments.

Helping people reach this kind of Nirvana is whatfriends are for. Rowena was right: Beauty has got to bethe goal of civilization. Design is the most valuable com-modity, so it’s no wonder that the industrial design pro-fession is being pushed to new heights.

In “Sleeping Beauty,” the evil queen (obviously nota designer) had to ask, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’sthe fairest of them all?” Is beauty only skin deep? Theway people and things look is important. What’s wrongwith a beautiful surface? Quality is reflected in the visualimage. You can judge a book by looking at the cover.The objects we make and how we enjoy them defineculture. Whether it’s only on the surface or goes all theway through, the more beautiful it is, the better the cul-ture and the more fulfilling our lives. In fact, civilizationbuilds (both physically and intellectually) the environ-ment and support for the creation and appreciation ofbeauty. Like gas and water, beautility is an essentialcivic utility that sustains our life form.

self actualization

self esteem

love

safety

survival

beauty

fun

convenience

survival

Tucker’s HierarchyMaslow’s Hierarchy