Aesthetic Intentions in Product Design

Market driven or alternative form

Jan Walter Parr Department of Product Design Norwegian University of Science and Technology ABSTRACT

A dominating approach to aesthetic aspects of product development emphasises the search for a defined users preferences through market studies and relating methods. The author presents a critique of this approach, based mainly on ethical considerations and aspects relating to the nature of the consumer culture. Following this, an overview of alternative guiding principles in the aesthetics of design is presented. This is done by reviewing the motivational basis for the most important movements in twentieth century design, as well as presenting the intentions of certain well known contemporary designers. Further, the usefulness and actual effect of a designers aesthetic intentions are debated, defining the relevant purposes and motivational basis for such personal principles. The article concludes by considering what aesthetic approach is best suited for different types of products.
KEYWORDS

Product design, aesthetics, design philosophy, intention, design history, market driven aesthetics, alternative aesthetics.

1.

INTRODUCTION

lifestyle, in order to create products with the right communicative aspects. SIMRADs strategy represents quite a typical approach to industrial design in practice. In the present consumer culture, the significance of aesthetics is often limited to a means of getting the user to buy the product. Therefore, aesthetic choices are quite often based on and motivated by market surveys, studies of competing products, and studies of defined target user groups, in order to make the product fit into a favourable niche among other products. Among a multitude of rivals, aspects such as the first impression given to the potential buyer have become important. The products based directly on these market

At the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Institute for Product Design at the technical university in Trondheim, a conference was held regarding the role of industrial design in the next ten years. SIMRAD, a Norwegian manufacturer of maritime electronic products, held a lecture on the benefits of using industrial design in a hightechnology enterprise. Towards the end of the lecture it was stated clearly that the only reason for employing a designer in the product development process, was to increase sales revenue by making more attractive products for the customer. The work of the designer consisted largely of investigating the target users preferences and

Aesthetic Intentions in Product Design

considerations can be said to incorporate market driven aesthetic aspects, or market driven form. It is perhaps an undisputable fact that the success of any industrial product depends on its user appeal, but is it equally obvious that the best way to achieve this is the direct market driven approach? And in ethical terms, is it sufficient to address market preferences as the only basis for aesthetic form? The history of designers and artefacts shows that there are indeed many other approaches to aesthetic intentions, ranging from political and ecological intentions, via practical intentions, to formal aesthetic intentions. In this article, aesthetics will be regarded as the language of products, in accordance with semiotic principles. The first part introduces this notion by explaining in a condensed manner how a product can be said to communicate, using the work of Mon. In the following section, I present market driven aesthetics (the intention of making the user buy the product), closely followed by a critique of this approach. The critique is the motivating factor for the main section, where a range of alternative intentions are presented. This is done by looking at some important movements in 20th century design history, as well as considering the intentions of certain individual designers. The result is a set of examples showing how the aesthetic language can be used for different intentions, and this list will help nourish the discussion in the final part of the article. This discussion takes the form of a series of questions relating to the theme of what could, and should, motivate aesthetic communication.
2. AESTHETICS AS THE LANGUAGE OF PRODUCTS

is passed. In the aesthetic language of products, the transmitter of the message is the product itself (whereas in a spoken language it would be the mouth of the person talking). The source (the designer or the person talking), receiver (the sensory organs of another person), and the target (the other person's brain), remain the same. This implies that it is possible to pass an intended message through a product to the user of the product. In this context, the user can be anyone who comes in contact with the product, in other words someone who perceives it at any given time.

Figure 1: Aesthetics as the language of products. Modified from Mon (1997) The model presented by Mon also considers how an intended message can become obscured or changed on its way to the target. This is perhaps where the biggest differences between aesthetics and spoken language lie: In spoken language the basic carriers of meaning (letters and words), as well as the synthesis of these (sentences, paragraphs), are rather well defined by strict and known conventions. In aesthetics, the meaning of a product's individual parts, its totality, and the way it is seen as a part of a bigger system, is a more complex and relative matter depending to a larger extent on the circumstances and the personal experience of the target. An example of communication through a product is presented by Lloyd and Snelders (2003). Their analysis of the Juicy Salif lemon squeezer by Philippe Starck gives an impression of how aesthetic communication depends to a large extent on the premises of the target. Their analysis is concluded with a statement summarizing what the lemon squeezer might embody and express. () We have the idea of permanence, the idea of a past future, the possibility of irony, the idea of

Mon (1997) defines aesthetics as: the study of the effect of physical gestalt (configuration) on human sensation. Applied to industrial products, the definition becomes: the study of the effect of product gestalt on human sensation. Based on the work of Shannon and Weaver, Mon goes on to explain how aesthetics can be seen as communication through products. Communication implies the transmission of a message from one system to another, such as from a designer to a user. What distinguishes aesthetics from an ordinary spoken language is merely the differences in the transmitter and channel through which the message

Aesthetic Intentions in Product Design

instability, and of sex. A sexy, Soviet, statue; a morality tale for the overspending consumer: beware of fixed, top-heavy systems, for they may be toppled. And these, we have tried to show, might have been ideas running around peoples heads during the social and political situation of the late eighties (when the lemon squeezer was produced) and the early nineties (when it was introduced into the market). All of these interpretations are possible results of the communication that takes place through the lemon squeezer. Whether or not these particular reactions were intended by the designer in the first place, is quite another discussion. This question will be addressed in the discussion.

3.

MARKET DRIVEN FORM

Before considering different approaches to product aesthetics, I will mention some important dimensions defining the world of artefacts that might prove a useful reference for the reader. First, it seems possible to arrange most objects along an axis stretching between a purely utilitarian pole, and a purely symbolic pole (Findeli 1994). This distinction can be exemplified by comparing for example a dentists chair with a living room chair. The first is to a large extent a functional object, whereas the second has a far more symbolic value. The importance of this observation in this context is that the closer a product lies to the purely symbolic pole, the greater the importance of aesthetic aspects will be. The second dimension is the frequency with which a product is purchased. Milk or batteries are of such a nature that they are bought repetitively and often, whereas a couch or a car represents a more long term investment. A related, but not identical, characteristic is the products price. In general, the more expensive and long lasting an investment is, the more consciousness and effort will be put into a potential buyers decision. The three dimensions price, frequency of purchase, and symbolic/ functional value define an object space within which artefacts can be appropriately classified.
3.1 Intention: making the defined user like (and buy) the product.

Figure 2: Juicy Salif Lemon Squeezer, Philippe Starck However difficult product aesthetics might be to master, it still has many similarities with an ordinary language (Scruton 1979). I will end this section by posing a question: If it is really so that aesthetics can be seen as a proper language, what message is then appropriate to communicate? This leads us to the subject treated in the following parts, the study of intentions in aesthetics.

The acceptance of the product depends on the extent to which one is successful in finding the aesthetical or semantic code of the target group (Brdek in Lawson 1997). This statement describes the motivational basis for market driven form, a common approach to aesthetic factors in product development. As mentioned above, the intention of making a defined user buy a product often seems to be the default ultimate goal in product design. A multitude of methods reflect this observation, showing ways of directly incorporating user preferences in the various stages in product development. User preferences that are commonly considered in such a process range from functional, rational, and quantifiable, to aesthetic, emotional, and qualitative matters. By market driven form, I mean the aesthetic aspects of a product, resulting

Aesthetic Intentions in Product Design

from direct considerations of user preferences. The industrial designers Seymour and Powell employ this approach as one of their fundamental guiding principles as an example, the remarkable Blackhawk Stutz Electric Guitar from 1986 was designed specifically to express the values of the rock performer for whom it was intended.

products classified by aesthetic properties). Creating user group scenarios and user profiles can further help understand the users aesthetic preferences, to which the new product can be custom fit. If we again permit ourselves to speak of aesthetics as a language, the market driven form implies to express what the defined user wishes to hear. Even though it is a long shot, perhaps a parallel can be drawn to the world of newspapers some newspapers generally write what the readers want to see in order to sell, whereas some focus on serving some higher calling. In the following section, a critique of the market driven form is presented.
3.2 Critique of the market driven form

Figure 3: The Blackhawk Stutz Electric Guitar, Seymour and Powell In the framework for a product development process provided by Ulrich and Eppinger (2000), the task of identifying customer needs is presented in detail. The philosophy behind the method is to create a high-quality information channel that runs directly between customers in the target market and the developers of the product. The approach reflects a fundamental intention of making a defined user the centre of all product considerations, made possible by methods such as interviews, focus groups, observation of products in use, and establishing a hierarchy of user needs. Jacobsen (1997) states that product aesthetics is an important means of emphasising functional user preferences in this way aesthetics can be seen as serving functional product requirements as well. In addition to this there are a number of other methods reflecting the intention of adapting aesthetic aspects to user preferences. Using a mood board technique, the form of a product can be researched within the solution space created by other products often those which are popular among the defined users. The new product is then developed to express the same qualities as other products that have proven to be popular, perhaps with a slight variation to differentiate it in a desired way. (Muller (1996) presents a tool for this approach an electronic database for existing

The market for industrial artefacts is generally tough, and any given companys fate depends to a great extent on the success of their products. In this setting, the market driven form seems a rather secure approach in order to be somewhat certain of a new products appeal within a defined user group. I have nevertheless found several sources for critique of this intention. First and foremost, assessing the taste of individuals or groups is difficult. Tastes change frequently, complicated and highly individual feelings are involved, and common characteristics unifying user groups are hard to find. Gotszch (2000) writes: Expressive product design can provoke different reactions, both negative and positive. It is therefore difficult to evaluate the popularity of an expressive design in a mass market. () Secondly, users habits change regularly. This implies that even when communicative product aspects are directly intended as an appeal to certain users, it is far from evident that the appeal reaches the target. The mountain bike was originally intended for the rugged outdoor type of user, but is today seen mostly in cities among the common public. This is an example where the product has found a larger user group than intended, but of course the opposite also happens, in which case the products basis of existence disappears. In this approach, there is therefore much uncertainty related to whether or not one is actually going to hit the desired target. The second source of critique deals with the way the profession of industrial design is evolving as a

Aesthetic Intentions in Product Design

result of the market driven approach. Walker (2002) argues that the preoccupation with product appeal renders product aesthetics hollow and superficial. This preoccupation prevents industrial design from evolving into an authentic, substantive discipline that effectively addresses important issues of our time." Walkers article shows how important social, political, and environmental issues are overlooked when the designers focus limits itself to working with a products immediate user appeal. The work of the industrial designer lies in giving shape to our common physical surroundings, a great responsibility which should be based on intentions that go far deeper than the mere seduction of a defined user. Another related issue is that of trends and fads. It is a well known phenomenon that user preferences tend to shift along with commonly held preferences, or trends. If product aesthetics are consistently adapted to these trends, the products expression will be outdated as soon as they shift again. In Ecodesign (Brezet and Hemel 1997), classic design is listed as one of the most important factors prolonging the expected lifetime of a given product. This implies that an expression which is less related to immediate user preferences could retain its validity and popularity over a longer period of time. A fourth possible source of critique is presented by Flusser (1993). In his essay The Ethics of Industrial Design, he claims that in our present situation, the absence of rules and regulations provided by authorities has left the user alone in his choice of industrial products. He further questions the ability of the user to make the right decision: Their [the user's] competence is questioned since industrial production has become extremely complicated and norms of any kind tend to be deceptively simple. This question is a long discussion in itself, and its implications will not play an important role in this article, since it concerns the very basis of our capitalist based society. This is considered as an issue too fundamental to treat here. Finally, some see aesthetics as being of a nature that cannot be quantified and put into system. This point is made by Findeli (1994), who compares the product design process to the treatment of an ethical question, a process which can not be strictly

based on facts and figures. To avail oneself of the market (users) to test the technological and symbolic performance of a product is indefensible. () To rely on marketing studies in order to justify the design of a new product, or on polls to determine the wishes of "consumers," or even on classical ergonomics to design a machine raises ethical principles that are hard to defend. He suggests that the different stages of moral deliberation, serve as a paradigm for technological decisions (and thus for the design process). In plain words, the argument states that design should be approached as an ethical challenge, not as a quantitive analysis that market surveys and the like tend to imply. Returning again to the notion of aesthetics as a language, let us summarize the suggestions of this section, and end with a question leading us to the next theme. The market driven form reflects the intention of expressing what the defined user wants to hear, in order to sell a product. This type of aesthetic communication has been criticised on the basis that - it is difficult to know what the user wants to hear; the user preferences shift frequently along with trends; it makes the profession of industrial design hollow and superficial; the user's competence might not be sufficient; and that the nature of aesthetical communication is not readily quantifiable. Let us assume for a minute that the target user is discarded as the direct motivating factor for form communication what then could constitute a new basis? What could be the alternative intentions in aesthetics?
4. ALTERNATIVE INTENTIONS

The question of what should motivate aesthetic communication has been treated by several important philosophers throughout our history. This section, however, does not present an overview over relevant philosophical theories of a general nature. First and foremost, I have compiled a more pragmatic sample of how the subject has been approached in the field of industrial design. This sample, however, should not be seen as a complete and extensive list, it is the result of a literature study with all the limitations that this implies. Nor should it be seen as a suggestion of what is a correct or right approach to aesthetics in industrial design. This question will rather be addressed in the discussion that ends the article.

Aesthetic Intentions in Product Design

4.1 Intention: The form shall follow the function

In 1896 architect Louis Sullivans stated in an essay that form follows function. He was referring to how the appearance of a building he was designing was influenced by its function. Later, this statement became famous because it represented the basis for the functionalistic approach to design, which was dominating in most of the twentieth century. The objective of this approach is summarized by Marcus (1995): objects made to be used should be simple, honest, and direct; well adapted to their purpose; bare of ornament; standardized, machinemade, and reasonably priced; and expressive of their structure and materials This implies a quite Spartan attitude, that favours stripping a product's communicative aspects down to the essentials. The resulting aesthetic expression was therefore to a large extent dependant on the available manufacturing methods and materials of the time. The wall clock designed by Max Bill in 1957 provides an example.

resulted in a maximum organisation of the product shape, leading to a very minimalist styling. Consequently, the minimalist expression became a style, with its own set of connotations and associations attached to it. This style became a goal in itself, at the expense of the more fundamental ideals of functionalism. As an example, Scruton (1979) discusses the difference between two forks, one of modern Swedish design, and the other with a more classical look. After examining the forks, he proposes that the classical fork is in fact better in terms of utility. He further concludes that:The ideal of functionality displayed by the Swedish fork is an aesthetic ideal; but it is an ideal that fails to translate itself from visual into practical values. Figure p 241 in scruton The functionalist intention is to express a bare minimum of what is needed, such as the function and structure of the object in question. However, history has shown that the nothingness of minimalism is in itself a powerful expression, which became a popular style that is comparable to any other trend. This recognition might have been one of the encouraging factors for the shift towards meaningful design (Gotszch 2000) in the postmodernistic era. The new acceptance of meaningful and varied aesthetic communication was accompanied by the introduction of the product semantics science the conscious integration of messages in a product (colour, form, texture, and size) which give it character and meaning (Julier in Gotszch 2000).
4.2 Intention: Counteracting social hierarchies

Figure 4: Functionalistic wall clock, Max Bill Following these principles, one can conclude that Max Bill's wall clock was given its form in order to express something like the following: I am a simple clock. I show time. I am made of steel and aluminium. The mechanism that moves my hands sits inside of me. However, a common critique of functionalism states that it is impossible to create objects that are entirely free of associations. According to Gotszch (2000), functionalism

In the early 1980s the Memphis group arose as a reaction to modern design. Twenty years earlier, in 1962, the architect Robert Venturi had written: I am for messy vitality over obvious unity (Horn 1985). This statement indicates the type of aesthetic language introduced by the Memphis designers their products give a colourful, artistic, nonbalanced and perhaps messy impression, in stark contrast to the modernistic predecessors. Italian designer Ettore Sottsass bookshelf is frequently referred to as a typical Memphis example.

Aesthetic Intentions in Product Design

4.3 Intention: let our industrial objects become aesthetic poetry

Right now we seem to be in a post-modern period of pluralist confusion with no one widely held set of design theories. (Lawson 1997) What does characterise design today, however, is the conscious integration of aesthetic messages in products. Starcks Juicy Salif lemon squeezer is an example of such an object which aim is among other things to make people talk (Lloyd and Snelders 2003). Metaphors and symbols are actively researched by designers, and often constitute an important part of a products aesthetic appeal. Black and Deckers Mouse, or Alessis Anna Corkscrew both give clear associations to different symbolic domains. Figure 5: Bookshelf, Ettore Sottsass The Memphis designs stand out as an exceptional phenomenon in design history, being among the rather few alternative and experimental movements that ever reached a certain commercial potential. Even so, the result is questionable - the driving philosophy of the group was built on socialistic principles, whereas the resulting products were so expensive that they could only be afforded by the elite. The intentions of the Memphis group are described by Horn (1985) as a criticism of social hierarchies and the power structures on which those hierarchies rely. () The same desire to do away with hierarchies (fortunate/unfortunate, better/worse, etc.) is reflected in Memphis use of materials a mix of high-class and low-class elements. In other words, the Memphis designers intentionally used a mixture of materials with differing cultural connotations, such as marble (expensive, elitist) with plastic (cheap, for the masses). In this way they tried to create an aesthetic expression that would cut across and counteract social class hierarchies. As mentioned above, however, this new style only became popular among the elite. This could perhaps be a confirmation of an important semiotic principle, notably that a product is perceived as more than the sum of its parts. The individual materials might have been used in order to exhort associations to different social classes, but the resulting product implied a new totality - a new style which was judged on its own terms.

Figure 6: Mouse, and Anna Corkscrew Starck has become one of the biggest contemporary stars of industrial design. His designs have become a reference for the rest of the profession, implying for example that designers refer to his style as Starck-like. A typical Starck product is one that brings out associations, that evokes feelings whether it is pleasure or irritation. Bertoni (1994) indicates some of Starcks aesthetic intentions by presenting quotes and statements he has made in the past: My work is about transformation of obligations into something else; it's an addition of soul, (...) when I'm forced to consume (...) I inject it with soul until the object becomes something else, or becomes a small poetic part. () I deal with either semantics or giving emotions. The purpose of these emotions is to scrutinise people, to wake them up, to transform them from becoming more and more passive spectators into actors. According to himself, Starcks ideal world is one where people are independent of material needs, but as long as we remain in our present situation, his objective is to charge objects with affectionate, emotional values of friendly presence and of comfort In other words, Starcks main objective seems to be the creation of positively charged aesthetic poetry, or

Aesthetic Intentions in Product Design

objects giving nice associations and emotions. This is perhaps a vaguely defined motive, but nevertheless a valid aesthetic intention.
4.4 Intention: Let industrial products remind us of nature and the human body

4.5 Intention: Follow geometric and proportional rules

Nature is the starting point for another one of our famous contemporary designer, the Swiss born designer Luigi Colani. His philosophy provides yet another example of alternative intentions in aesthetics. On his web page (www.colani.ch), he describes his own approach: I do no more than imitate the truths revealed to me by nature! () We are even aroused by round forms in species propagation related eroticism. Why should I join the straying masses who want to make everything angular? I am going to pursue Galileo Galilei's philosophy: my world is also round! The futuristic, organic shapes typical for Colani have had success especially in the field of transportation design. The Mazda MX-5 light weight sports car provides an example of this. Thinking again in terms of an aesthetic language, Colani seeks to speak of nature through his products, and transform our man-made surroundings into a more aesthetically organic environment. Using the human body as a guiding principle is a related point of view which has been held by several important figures throughout design history. The modernistic architect Le Corbusier created his variation to this theme in his famous theory The Modulor, where he proposed a proportional system based on numbers which he claimed could be derived from the ratios of parts of the human body. Another architect, Santiago Calatrava, draws inspiration more directly from the human form, studying how the body can flex into different stable positions. However, an in spite of their common guiding principle, the resulting aesthetic language of these two architects stand in contrast to each other, one being strictly geometric, and the other more organic.

A common way of classifying aesthetic qualities in an object, is by distinguishing formal aspects from communicative (semiotic) aspects. Formal aesthetics deal with perceptual references (composition, proportion, colour, etc) often considered in terms of contrasting elements such as vertical/horizontal, light/dark, or organic/geometric (Muller 2001). As we have spoken of aesthetics as a language, it is perhaps in its place to regard formal aesthetics as a form of grammar, providing the necessary rules for synthesising the basic carriers of meaning (the individual elements of a product). Lawson (1997) presents this idea as shape grammar, and indicates these rules can be an important guiding principle for certain architects and designers. For some, geometric and proportional aspects even become goals in themselves, and in this way the rules become the intention. This is the case for architect Richard MacCormac, famous for many buildings often involving some element of repetition. We look for a clear geometric analogy for the content of the problem. (Lawson 1997)
4.6 Intention: Custom fit a product to a place

Finally, an approach commonly employed by architects provides us with a last example of alternative aesthetic intentions. In connection with larger scale projects, such as villas or office buildings, many famous architects have designed furniture. In this case, the aesthetic aspects of the products have been custom fit to given physical surroundings, in order to emphasise the architects vision of the space - the furniture they designed was created with the whole of the specific in mind (Emery 1983). Some of these solutions have later been commercialized and mass produced with great success. As an example, this was the case for the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, who among many other things designed the Sanatorium in Paimio and the Municipal Library in Viipuri - for which he also designed furniture. This furniture was later mass produced by his own firm Artek. Many other examples can be found, including creations of famous architects such as Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Eileen Gray, etc. (Emery 1983).

Aesthetic Intentions in Product Design

intentions. When a designer works in practice, aesthetics are seldom considered as an independent factor. Rather, the aesthetic guidelines are often deducted from a more fundamental set of motives. The aesthetic intentions are perhaps only employed in isolation when the project in question permits a great liberty of form. The second issue to examine is the categorization of aesthetic intentions I have employed here. The act of putting the market driven intentions on one side, and all other possible intentions on the other, is not self-evident to justify. As I have stated several times, the success of a given product depends on whether or not it becomes popular in the market. With this decisive goal in mind, market driven aesthetic intentions distinguish themselves from other intentions by the fact that they represent the most direct approach to its accomplishment. Market success must be among the ultimate goals of any approach to aesthetics, but the other intentions represent alternative and less obvious ways of getting there. En route, it might be possible to serve some other calling besides satisfying the inevitable economic conditions. Let us now consider some important questions relating to the theme of aesthetic intentions:
5.1 Does the designer actually have the privilege of carrying through his own intentions?

Figure 7: Chair for Viipuri Municipal Library, Alvar Aalto Why is it that the products designed for this kind of specific environment have experienced such success? Do they perhaps incorporate an aesthetic message which is clearer, or easier to relate to? These products were made specifically to fill a certain role in a greater system. The resulting aesthetic expression therefore reflects some of the ideas which are important for the totality. Could other types of products with any success be designed in the same way such as kitchen equipment, hi-fi, or even cars?
5. DISCUSSION

There are at least two distinctions defining the scope and point of view of this article that deserve closer examination. The first is the fine line that has been drawn between aesthetic aspects of a product, and other aspects (such as functional aspects). Remembering Mons definition of aesthetics the study of the effect of product gestalt (configuration) on human sensation one can imagine how aesthetics in reality blends with other qualities. The way a nail is driven into a piece of wood by a hammer, can in a broad sense be defined as part of the hammer's aesthetic quality, besides being a decisive factor for its function. In the same way, what has been presented in this article as aesthetic intentions, maps onto other and more general

There is at least one very common intention in aesthetics that I have not mentioned so far, notably the intention of adapting a product's expression to a companys general profile. Brands have become enormously important as an indication of a persons image and identity, and many companies focus on selling their brand rather than the individual products. With the rise of this tendency, design management as a profession has been created, and the decisions regarding guidelines for aesthetic expression have been moved out of the hands of the individual designer. This is the reason why I have not mentioned this among the samples of alternative intentions the considerations are the same, but they are made to govern multiple products instead of only one. It is nevertheless important to note that the creative liberty of designers working within this culture has been reduced.

Aesthetic Intentions in Product Design

This phenomenon can also partly explain why I have had to refer to architects to exemplify many of the alternative intentions presented. Characteristically, projects in architecture deal with unique solutions on a large scale. This implies that the criteria for their existence are different from those of industrial products. Often, willingness to explore different aesthetic expressions is greater within architecture, because of the budget involved and the fact that buildings often remain as large visible monuments for many years. Industrial designers are to a greater extent bound to the constraints provided by the consumer culture mass production, brands, and trends.
5.2 To what extent do products reflect the designers intention?

intentions of its designer. Rather, one should look to the society in which the particular product became popular in order to find the motivation for its form. No design works unless it embodies ideas that are held in common by the people for whom the object is intended. Is the designer just a working ant whose work only reflects the constraints imposed by society? This question is treated by Lloyd and Snelders (2003) - humorously asking if the industrial designer is omnipotent or impotent. They conclude by a compromise: a designers personal creativity does form a necessary condition for a designs success, but it will never be a sufficient condition. What needs to be taken into account, however, is not the ideas of a particular culture as Forty suggests, but rather the personal creativity of the consumer to use or misuse the products they buy. To understand a particular design success, it is necessary to look for engaged use that contradicts, ignores, but sometimes supports the original intentions of the designer. This leaves a firm but rather small motivational basis for seeking personal intentions in aesthetics.
5.4 What then is the point of aesthetic intentions?

Recalling Mons model of aesthetic communication presented earlier in this article, we have seen that the process of relaying an intended message through a product is not evident. Reactions, associations, and feelings toward a product will vary with every user. Referring again to the Juicy Salif Lemon Squeezer, it becomes clear that all the possible associations given (described above) can hardly all be intended by the designer. An attempt of understanding Starcks intentions has been made by Lloyd and Snelders (2003): The evidence would suggest that he [Starck] sat down with the intention of designing a lemon squeezer () and probably do it provocatively and with some style. Starcks further intentions were to make an object that would start conversations, and here he must be accredited with some degree of success. However, it is uncertain whether this professed intention was a starting point for the design process, or rather a retrospective reflection. In any case, the true origin of a products message remains uncertain. This leads us to another question:
5.3 Does the fact that a product exists say more about user culture than it does about the designers intention?

So far in this discussion, the motivational basis for aesthetic intentions has been thoroughly questioned. The uncertainty of its relevance is due mainly to three observations a product seldom gives the intended reactions, existing products might reflect the values of society or the users creativity more than the designers intentions, and the designer must often adapt his work to a company profile. In order to bring the balance closer to equilibrium, certain counter-arguments deserve to be made. Lawson (1997) proclaims that the development of individual intentions is an essential aid to the process of developing ideas. He shows how so called guiding principles, strong sets of views of about the way design in a certain field should be practiced, often have a considerable impact on the design process. The designers principles can even in some cases become so important that " ...the cultural style they are defending is an inescapable necessity which we ignore at our peril and that to support it is a stern and social duty." (Watkin in

In the last chapter of his book Object of Desire, Forty (1986) calls into question what he calls the omnipotence of the industrial designer the designer as the sole creative power behind a product. He claims that a product can not be understood by examining it in relation to the

Aesthetic Intentions in Product Design

10

Lawson 1997). However, Lawson claims that what is most important about these intentions is not the resulting effect on our culture, but rather that they invigorate the design process itself. They are particularly useful in decision making processes: If anything is possible, how can a design be defended against those who may attack it (...) it is perhaps comforting to have some principles which suggest fairly unequivocally that some ideas are more right than others! (Richard Rogers in Lawson 1997). Scruton (1979) also defends the usefulness of aesthetic intentions, emphasising the temporally enduring qualities that are created by a well considered aesthetic solution. He states that it is good aesthetic education and intentions that have enabled men to build structures and streets that have remained agreeable beyond the expiry of their ephemeral purposes. In this way, Scruton also supports the use of what I have called alternative aesthetic intentions, since the goal of prolonged agreeableness is different from that of the immediate user preferences.
5.5 Should the product find the user, or should the user find the product?

hollow and superficial, or answer to any other higher calling, I feel less certain. One common implication by any approach that does not give the user exactly what he wants, is that the customers are required to be of a more active and seeking nature. In order to find, accept, like and buy such a product, a greater intellectual effort is required by the user. In order to illustrate this point, let us consider an example. A designer sets out with the intention of making a cellular telephone with an aesthetic expression that will not loose its popularity at the first shift of trends. Wanting to make something that will not leave the user to discard and replace before that is really necessary, he gives his telephone a more classical look. Once on the market, this telephone will probably require the same intellectual effort by the buyers as the designer himself did in the first place, in order to be sold. The user must admit that the phone does not have as much immediate appeal as the other more trendy alternatives, but acknowledge that he will still like it in a year or two. With this in mind, and relating to the object space defined in the introduction to this article, one is tempted to draw certain conclusions. The more expensive, long term, and symbolic a product is considered, the more effort is made by the potential buyer to consider different alternatives in terms of aesthetic qualities. In the case of such products like a couch or a dress it would perhaps be appropriate to start out with alternative aesthetic intentions. In the case of strictly functional products, aesthetic factors have less importance. However, for an artefact which is cheap, lasts short, and is highly symbolic in value (such as a cigarette pack), one should perhaps base aesthetic aspects on the immediate user preferences, what I have called the market driven form. Expressed in a very simplified way, cheap and short lived symbolic products must find the user, but users can be expected to actively search for long lasting and expensive symbolic products. The above analysis represents a rather passive point of view reflecting the dependence of industrial design on the consumer culture. In this situation, any brave attempt to experiment with alternative form represent a wish to raise the consciousness of the user, lead him forward, and make him change. I will end the discussion with a rather positive

Disregarding for a minute the cloud of doubt encircling the usefulness and meaning of aesthetic intentions, let us return to what is one of the most important questions raised by this article. In light of what we have seen, should the designer (to the extent that he controls his course of action) custom fit the product message to a user, or search for alternative aesthetic expressions? I will not attempt to give any general answer the subject seems too complex for that. Some will perhaps argue that any given project requires its own approach. Recalling the critique of the market driven approach, a natural question to ask is whether any of the alternatives answer to the critique. Instead of making the defined user the driving factor, the alternative approaches focus on other issues, for example product function, socio-political problems, formal aesthetic rules, desired associations, or geographical places. Any of these certainly eliminates the difficulties of assessing what the users want, since they simply focus on other things. For the same reason, the impact of frequently shifting user preferences is less damaging with an alternative approach. As for whether or not the alternative intentions make the industrial design profession less

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comment by the British architect Sir Denys Lasdun (in Lawson 1997), illustrating this point: Our job is to give the client not what he wants but what he never even dreamt he wanted

6.

CONCLUSION

A designers personal intentions in aesthetic aspects of product design serve several purposes. As we have seen, such guiding principles have consequences both relating to the designer himself, and the user of the product. In connection with the product development process, it has been argued that these intentions are an important prerequisite for the creation and defence of ideas. Accordingly, they form an essential basis for the professional practice of the product designer. From the point of view of the products user, the effect of a designers intentions has been found questionable. In general, the reaction to an aesthetic form is difficult to forecast, and the associations and feelings created in the users mind are seldom all part of the designers original intentions. Even so, the better the designers command of the aesthetic language is, the greater the chances will be to relay an intended message. To the extent that a designer himself controls the aesthetic intentions of a product in development, he has a well of different approaches to choose from. For a product of rather low cost and intended lifetime, he might be served with seeking the most direct market driven form. For a product of high symbolic value which is expensive and represents a long term investment, he might be better suited by an alternative approach. In this case, an ocean of alternatives opens up, leaving the designer to emphasise socio-political factors, symbolic associations, formal aesthetic rules, product function, geographical place, or any other possible driving factor in his aesthetic work.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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