Professional Documents
Culture Documents
In her book The Substance of Style Virginia Postrel notes that Starbucks is to the
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age of aesthetics what McDonalds was to the age of convenience or Ford was to the
age of mass production. What prompted millions of people to spend $3.3 billion on a
cup of Starbucks coffee last year? Postrels answer is that companies like Starbucks
have used aesthetics to give their customers a unique sensory experience, and their
customers cant get enough of it. Everyone from retailers to homebuilders, restau-
rants, hotels, and nearly every facet of our daily lives are now echoing that same
focus on aesthetics by product designers. He shows a few examples to illustrate how
aesthetics is the way we communicate through the senses. After all, human beings
are visual, tactile, and emotional creatures and we are drawn towards people, places,
and things that give us sensory pleasure. Postrel points out that form follows emo-
tion has supplanted form follows function. How else do you explain the success of
the iMac, Volkswagen Beetle, and the Michael Graves Toaster at Target?
(http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/the_substance_of_style_how_the_rise_of_
aesthetic_value_is_remaking_commerce_culture_and_consciousness)
(19) EXERCISE:
In this exercise, you will explore your own ideas about the role of the emotions in
graphic design.