Pretty is the enemy of function
Pretty must have a reason if it is to help communicate. It has to serve the purpose, not be the purpose. Pretty must further the process of communication. Otherwise, it is just eye candy.
Eye candy will not give you directions to the post office, tell you which button to click to help you get where you want to go on a web site, or help you put together the bookshelves you bought from Ikea. Eye candy does not let you know which refrigerator is a better buy or which bag of frozen broccoli is going to please you more. To accomplish those things you need functional clarity.
This does not mean that to be functional and clear when you communicate that you cannot also be attractive, or pretty serving a purpose, but pretty can never be a starting point without hurting functionality. Attractiveness, or pretty, has to develop from a need to further the goals of communication. Clear, functional communication is attractive to begin with, but sometimes pretty can point to something that requires emphasis or to an important point that should be made.
All of this assumes that communication strives to achieve truth in its purpose. Eye candy is perfect for subverting our attention away from truth.
Our culture is filled with eye candy, and as with other forms of candy, it is easy to forget that candy is fine as an occasional treat but a steady diet of candy causes tooth decay and obesity. Eye candy is just as bad. We see so much of it that it is easy to want it, to desire it, instead of real communication. We want meaningless pretty because we see so much of it in our culture. But often, real communication is necessary and eye candy just gets in the way, subverting the message.
Eye candy is desired but not trusted.
Eye candy will not give you directions to the post office, tell you which button to click to help you get where you want to go on a web site, or help you put together the bookshelves you bought from Ikea. Eye candy does not let you know which refrigerator is a better buy or which bag of frozen broccoli is going to please you more. To accomplish those things you need functional clarity.
This does not mean that to be functional and clear when you communicate that you cannot also be attractive, or pretty serving a purpose, but pretty can never be a starting point without hurting functionality. Attractiveness, or pretty, has to develop from a need to further the goals of communication. Clear, functional communication is attractive to begin with, but sometimes pretty can point to something that requires emphasis or to an important point that should be made.
All of this assumes that communication strives to achieve truth in its purpose. Eye candy is perfect for subverting our attention away from truth.
Our culture is filled with eye candy, and as with other forms of candy, it is easy to forget that candy is fine as an occasional treat but a steady diet of candy causes tooth decay and obesity. Eye candy is just as bad. We see so much of it that it is easy to want it, to desire it, instead of real communication. We want meaningless pretty because we see so much of it in our culture. But often, real communication is necessary and eye candy just gets in the way, subverting the message.
Eye candy is desired but not trusted.