The Science of Cute

I've mentioned in a previous post that I think this next year kind of hinges on the first few weeks of class. Welp, that's pretty true. I'm almost certain of my final furniture project scope for Spring semester. We spend this entire semester creating a design brief (or program), doing tons and tons of research, doing case studies, writing design narratives, etc. etc. Then next semester we design and build. Last week, I wrote 3 short papers detailing ideas for my final project. So if you're going to mentally check out, now's the time to do it.

One was on Seasonal Affective Disorder and furniture that utilizes indirect light that could help combat that. It was my least favorite, as it has sort of been done before, but it could prove to be informative.

Another was on arthritis and designing furniture that could ease the pain of those that suffer from the condition. I'm pretty interested in this one. I could do a lot of research on different types of arthritis and their symptoms. And case studies could involve Alvar Aalto's Paimio Chair (for TB patients) and other types of furniture/products made for people with arthritis or other physical incapacities.

But the one that I think could keep me interested for upwards of 8 months involves the science behind "cuteness." This one is a bit more theory and psychology, an aspect of design that I have been in love with since I started at K-State. There has already been a lot of research into the psychology of "beauty," what makes something look beautiful, the attributes, proportion, etc. But cuteness has had very little exposure. Scientists are just now looking into this area of study–what attributes make something look cute (like low-set eyes, round head, baby-like features) and why it affects people the way it does. I want to delve deeper into the evolutionary reasons why cuteness is attractive.

And oh, the case studies! The VW Beetle, Mini Cooper, oodles of children's toys like the Furby or Cabbage Patch doll, Mickey Mouse (over the years), Hello Kitty, any Japanese cartoon, and of course all those adorable animals out there such as pandas, koalas, manatees, or maybe Oggie and Oden.

And the options I would have for a final project next semester are pretty much endless. As long as it involves cuteness, I'm pretty much set. So I would have a nice safety net of opportunity at the beginning of next semester.

I've also made some big strides in my product design studio, but there's a limit to the amount of words I can write in one go. And I've exceeded that already by about 4 million.