At Studio Republic we believe firmly in bringing out the beauty in any design. In a world which is increasingly driven by automation and operating systems, it’s nice to create a little bit of loveliness.

1. Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder

2. Beauty is a subjective concept. How else can you explain
Julia Roberts marrying Lyle Lovett? But what role does
beauty play when it comes to designing websites? Yes -
visual interfaces must comply with a brand’s visual
guidelines and yes - it must follow ‘design principles’ but
what about actual soulful, aesthetically appealing, pupil-
dilating beauty?

3. Successful websites engage the viewer. Well, what is
engagement on a human level? Surely this refers to pure
human responses – what we feel, think and like or dislike.
In our process of building a website, functionality and the
look and feel go hand in hand.

4. Our ethos is based around websites that perform brilliantly
and look great. If we bear in mind that website effectiveness
depends on human interaction then the distinction between
look and function becomes blurred. Basically, if we feel that
it looks gorgeous, it gives us a better website experience.

5. What are aesthetics?

6. Aesthetics are not to be confused with prosthetics, which
are false limbs, nor with ascetics, which are hermits. The
term aesthetics covers how our senses contribute to how
we feel about something and how we learn about the world.
On a website people learn by sight what is a tab, what is a
hyperlink and what is a button that clicks through to another
page.

7. The design of the element (eg. shading or blue underline
etc) tells us that it has a function that we can interact with.
Our brain interprets visual clues, colours and shortcuts to
help us navigate without reading detailed instructions on the
page.

8. Furthermore, our brain favours visuals that are more
appealing – or beautiful. If it finds a pleasing image that is a
button, we are more likely to use it than a plain or ugly one.

9. People are visual creatures, it’s how most of us interpret
most of the world. We attach all kinds of values, qualities
and emotions to imagery.

10. All the little symbols and visuals on a website – from the
font choice to the colours and the use of straight lines or
curves or photos or cartoons – all these visual choices form
a personality. And this personality determines our
impression of a website. Over time this impression develops
into our engagement.

11. It’s important that we engage with a website because it’s the
shop window of a brand. Some brands position themselves
as highly personal, family-oriented, homely or luxurious –
and creating a warm, trusting feeling towards that brand
personality is important.

12. It follows that beauty is a primary goal for that type of
website design. We recently launched a website for Nede
Construction who deliver high spec construction and
interiors for luxury properties. What they create is stunningly
beautiful and our website design had to reflect that.

13. At Studio Republic we believe firmly in bringing out the
beauty in any design. In a world which is increasingly driven
by automation and operating systems, it’s nice to create a
little bit of loveliness.

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