Classical and expressive aesthetics
The most useful visual design concept I’ve come across is the idea of classical and expressive aesthetics. The names come from Talia Lavie and Noam Tractinksky’s paper, “Assessing dimensions of perceived visual aesthetics of web sites”.
For each, here are some qualities they represent, and some methods you can use to produce them.
Classical aesthetics
Qualities
- Objective/universal
- Plain
- Functional
- Familiar
- Elegant
- Professional
- Traditional
- Clean
- Pleasant
- Organised
- Clear
Methods
- Structure
- Order
- Proportion
- Symmetry
- Simple/calm shapes
- Simple visual techniques
Expressive aesthetics
Qualities
- Subjective/individual
- Emotional
- Dynamic
- Novel/creative/original
- Extravagant
- Playful
- Fascinating
- Trendy
- Artistic
- Complex
Methods
- Variety
- Complex/energetic shapes
- High contrast
- Many colours
- Advanced visual techniques