Beauty and the beastSometimes I think the reason why people say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder has less to do with an honest perception of beauty than with a fear of compromising standards. That is to say, it's a lot easier to stop an argument about what's beautiful or not by firing a few stiff jabs of subjectivity followed by an I-have-no-doubt right hook.
Of course I don't deny that the diversity of taste one finds among a large group of people won't match up with an equally large and diverse range of desired objects; but there is something to be said for things that inspire a consensus view. I'm thinking of drawings by Paul Klee, Christy Turlington herself, Gil Evans/Miles Davis songs and, say, the cinematography in David Lean movies. Not everyone loves them, but most would agree that they did something beautiful in their field. (Hey, we're not talking absolutes here; obviously standards of beauty are mostly culturally driven.)
One day I was talking aesthetics with one of our contributors, Chris Yato; both of us wondering how it is that there are so many ugly cars on the road. Remember the old AMCs, like the Pacer, or the Volkswagen Thing or the Pontiac Aztek or... The list goes on. How is it possible that any suspect design winds up in production when you consider the huge cost involved in bringing out a new model? Do we need ugly things just for contrast or what? Every year automakers roll out cool concept vehicles that car enthusiasts drool over at shows and then "replace" them with duds in the showrooms. I loved Ford's Forty-Nine. But instead of a car that cues off that we get the 500. Unlike another boring car, the Taurus, it hasn't sold that well. Maybe car makers rely on a limited consumer history of purchases that wasn't always based aesthetics.
If anyone doubts the power of beauty, especially as it relates to consumer products, look no further than Apple's iPod or the new models from Nissan the last few years for proof. The iPod doesn't work that much better than other music portables, but it's the most appealing device on the market. And in terms of overall value you can get something as good as a 350Z from another manufacturer, but it won't look as sleek yet muscular.
Among other key (strategic and business) decisions that Carlos Ghosn of Nissan and Renault made was bringing in designer Shiro Nakamura to improve the look of Nissan's vehicle lineup. It wasn't all about cool looking cars, but most of us probably agree that that was a big part for Nissan's return to stature during a highly competitive time in the automotive business. Of course, it didn't stop them from moving from Southern California to Tennessee, but I digress...
Aesthetics are also important for the interior of the car as well (not to mention audio gear). As a staff we can't count the number of installs we've seen that we would prefer not to see again. Naturally, that's been more at certain tuner shows and not sound competitions. I would say, if you want to do your own thing, that's cool, but if you want to win some awards, get some attention and maybe land features in magazines, then it would help to think about system design. We see a lot of product installed in cars but not integrated. We may see fabrication, but the fitment is off. And on and on. If it's not beautiful, what's the point? But then, of course, I look at myself in the mirror everyday and wonder the very same thing. Which is why it's especially important for me to surround myself with fancy accoutrements. Sometimes it's a lot easier to fool the mind than the eye.
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