• Home
  • Trends
    • Living Bathroom
    • Smart Bathroom
    • Green Bathroom
    • Archive
  • References
    • Hospitality
    • Public Space
    • Private Spa
  • Architecture
    • Wall+Floor
    • Colours
    • Materials
    • Light
    • Barrier free
  • Products
    • News
    • Accessoires
    • Taps
    • Bathtubs
    • To Shower
    • Washbasins
    • Bathroom Furniture
    • Toilets
  • Sanitary brands
    • Axor
    • Bette
    • burgbad
    • Dallmer
    • Dornbracht
    • Duravit
    • Geberit
    • Glassdouche
    • Hansgrohe
    • Kaldewei
    • Kermi
    • Keuco
    • Sanipa
    • TECE
    • Viega
    • Villeroy & Boch
  • ISH
    • ISH 2023
  • About
    • Pop up my Bathroom
    • Aktion Barrierefrei
    • VDS
  • Press
  • Contact
    • Imprint
    • Credits
    • Data Privacy
    • Newsletter
  • deutsch
  • english
  • Home
  • Trends
    • Living Bathroom
    • Smart Bathroom
    • Green Bathroom
    • Archive
  • References
    • Hospitality
    • Public Space
    • Private Spa
  • Architecture
    • Wall+Floor
    • Colours
    • Materials
    • Light
    • Barrier free
  • Products
    • News
    • Accessoires
    • Taps
    • Bathtubs
    • To Shower
    • Washbasins
    • Bathroom Furniture
    • Toilets
  • Sanitary brands
    • Axor
    • Bette
    • burgbad
    • Dallmer
    • Dornbracht
    • Duravit
    • Geberit
    • Glassdouche
    • Hansgrohe
    • Kaldewei
    • Kermi
    • Keuco
    • Sanipa
    • TECE
    • Viega
    • Villeroy & Boch
  • ISH
    • ISH 2023
  • About
    • Pop up my Bathroom
    • Aktion Barrierefrei
    • VDS
  • Press
  • Contact
    • Imprint
    • Credits
    • Data Privacy
    • Newsletter
  • Search

Innovative study by Ideal Standard: How design and function impact our perception of beauty

04/15
  • book tips
  • company
  • trends

Ideal Standard has revealed the results of a pioneering neuroscientific study into how the brain perceives and interprets beauty. More specifically the research, which used a combination of EEG scans and online studies, examined the conflict the brain experiences when presented with aesthetically pleasing but functionally poor products; a phenomenon newly termed ‘aesthetic dissonance’.  

The research was commissioned by Ideal Standard and conducted by Mindlab, a neurological research facility based in Brighton, England. The results of the responses of over 1,400 individuals were analysed by neuroscientist Dr Jack Lewis; an expert in brain imaging.  

 

“Logically there should be no connection between how beautiful we consider an object and how well that object functions,” said Dr Lewis. “But what this study shows is that when an object we rate as beautiful turns out to perform poorly, the level of electrical activity in the part of the brain associated with aesthetic appreciation reduces. So if a beautiful object lets us down, we don’t consider it as beautiful. If an ordinary looking product works well, we consider it more aesthetically pleasing. We’re calling this phenomenon ‘aesthetic dissonance’,” said Dr Lewis. “It describes what happens in the brain when there is a conflict between perceptions of beauty and experience of function.”  

 

The results have a significant impact on the design community. “What designers have always intuitively understood - that there is an intimate relationship between the functionality of a product and our aesthetic appreciation of it - has now been established scientifically” says Dick Powell, world-renowned and award winning co-founder of leading design company Seymourpowell. “The research will empower manufacturers and brands to challenge the aesthetic recommendations of their designers if those recommendations compromise functionality. The knowledge will drive the industry forward to create products that work just as beautifully as they look.”  

 

Jordi Cazorla, Vice President - Commercial at Ideal Standard International, said: “At Ideal Standard we have always sought to marry together form with function. This study, for the first time, demonstrates how form and function interact in the mind of the product user. “Commissioning the research demonstrates our continued commitment to delivering products that have style that is matched by performance, offering ‘A Beautiful Use of Space’.”  

 

Further information:  

about the study here 

about Ideal Standard 

Related Articles

Color Selection von Pop up my Bathroom auf der ISH 2019
  • book tips
  • Colour Selection
  • colours
  • exhibitions
  • ish
  • pop up my bathroom
  • vds

The Colour Selection trend book: a compendium of the latest colour trends in the bathroom

05/19

With its Colour Selection study at the ISH 2019, Pop up my Bathroom proved it has its finger on the pulse. The VDS communication campaign was taken up by the entire industry – and the essentials have now been published in the form of a trend book.

more

Subscribe to our trendletter
  • Koralle X80 Free:
  • Pop up my Bathroom Atelier: trends and trade fair highlights at the ISH 2015’s well-attended lecture programme
Instagram
Information Platform
for Creative Bathroom Planning,
Architecture and Design
Join the communityFollow us on TwitterInstagramPinterest
  • Home
  • Trends
    • Living Bathroom
    • Smart Bathroom
    • Green Bathroom
    • Archive
  • References
    • Hospitality
    • Public Space
    • Private Spa
  • Architecture
    • Wall+Floor
    • Colours
    • Materials
    • Light
    • Barrier free
  • Products
    • News
    • Accessoires
    • Taps
    • Bathtubs
    • To Shower
    • Washbasins
    • Bathroom Furniture
    • Toilets
  • Sanitary brands
    • Axor
    • Bette
    • burgbad
    • Dallmer
    • Dornbracht
    • Duravit
    • Geberit
    • Glassdouche
    • Hansgrohe
    • Kaldewei
    • Kermi
    • Keuco
    • Sanipa
    • TECE
    • Viega
    • Villeroy & Boch
  • ISH
    • ISH 2023
  • About
    • Pop up my Bathroom
    • Aktion Barrierefrei
    • VDS
  • Press
  • Contact
    • Imprint
    • Credits
    • Data Privacy
    • Newsletter

German Bathroom Sector Association
(Vereinigung Deutsche Sanitärwirtschaft e.V., VDS)
Rheinweg 24
53113 Bonn
Telephone: +49 (228) 923999-30
Fax: +49 (228) 923999-33
info *at* sanitaerwirtschaft *punkt* de

  • deutsch
  • english

powered by depage::cms

Information Platform for Creative
Bathroom Planning, Architecture and Design