Week Three

This week in 3D was a lecture about the importance of Emotive Design. Throughout the lecture the significance of portraying emotion through a character was reinforced throughout.

Form Follows Function??

We have heard that before right? But what if we considered,

Form Follows Emotion??  

I mean emotion is a function within us right? As an inanimate or animate object can bring us joy, it doesn’t have to be much, but we still feel the function of joy.

So it makes sense to say that Form Follows Emotion.

Designers have moved from the Bauhaus

creed of form follows one function to one

where form follows function.

                                      Grinyer C. 2001

Grinyer Clive, Smart Design: Products that have changed our lives, Rotovision SA, 2001.

Although in life we all feel that Attractive things work better!!

Don Norman, is an academic in the field of cognitive science, design and usability engineering: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Norman),

and he believes that design falls into 3 parts.

1.     Visceral - The Aesthetics of a design

2.     Behaviour - The pleasure and effectiveness of use.

3.     Reflective - Self Image, personal satisfaction.

How do we, as humans relate to products??

There is 3 ways we think about Emotion and the Design in which follows emotion.

1. The Appealingness - The social attitude and positive intention
2. Its Praiseworthyness- Its social standard
3. Its Desireability - Fun qualities, attractiveness

Desmet and Hekkert (2002) say that there is a 4th way to consider Emotion and the Design. The fourth being Surprise as it is an element no one really considers. 

( Desmet PMA, & Hekkert P, 'The basis of Product Emotions', Delft University of Technology Department of Industrial Design. In: W. Green and P. Jordan (Eds.), Pleasure with Products, beyond usabilty (60-68) 2002)

 Ortony et al . 1988 believes that there is 3 main aspects in life in which people focus and which affects their decisions.

1. Events - Activities or experiences
2. Agents - Feelings towards active parties in an event      
3. Objects - Interest in its attributes.

(Ortony, A, Clore, G.L, and Collins, A. The Cognitive Structure of Emotions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988)

Of course there is a lot more information to get on Emotive Design, but this is just a basic overview of many peoples opinions and ideas. I enjoyed the lecture as it opened up more ideas to help expand your ideas.