The Potential of Design Aesthetics

The paper is a contribution to building a research discourse and methodology across disciplines. Taking design aesthetics as our theme, we present and discuss a research framework with roots in the interest in aesthetics within the humanities but aimed at producing research perspectives across design practice, the humanities and the social sciences. The initial research question is a meta-question contesting the relevance of the concept of design aesthetics in design research in terms of the interest in practice methodology within design practice, the interest in understanding the object within the humanities and the interest within the social sciences in investigating patterns and aspects of consumption. The research frame is guided by two aims: (i) to enable specific research interests by looking at possible combinations of empirical material and phenomena (processes, objects, contexts) and speculative settings of employed concepts, and (ii) to investigate the methodological setting of how the research frame may be engaged in an overall framework of aesthetics while the participants simultaneously operate with the particular interests of their disciplines. After a presentation of the concept of design aesthetics, we discuss the methodological and theoretical setting of the framework and its visualization in a model and present two projects which in different ways engage and explore design aesthetics: (i) the role of tactile sensing in textile design in relation to the articulation of aesthetic qualities for both designers and consumers and (ii) a critical-analytical project investigating different levels of aesthetics in design and the role of their specific cultural setting.