Aesthetic Realms ⋅ EV #026

Your designer, who is confident that their visuals are great, may face your "I don't like it".

Not a big deal. They will rework.

But you, as a founder who is madly in love with your freshly designed brand image, may also face rejection. You'll realize after the brand relaunch, when existing customers start telling you that they "just aren't getting your new look".

Today, I want to share with you how to avoid this brand relaunch disaster.

Have you ever heard "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"?

In short, it means "what one person finds beautiful, another person might not".

How does it apply to your brand image?

It all comes down to an ambiguous term that explains our ability to perceive, judge, and experience beauty. Psychologists call it "aesthetic literacy". I don't use "literacy" because it carries a bitter aftertaste of control and hierarchy.

I replaced it with my own term — Aesthetic Realm. Here, the word "realm" changes the narrative: from "this person is smarter or more educated than another one" to "they just live in different worlds".

All realms are beautiful, but they are radically different.
How so?

Here are a few factors that shape how people perceive beauty:

Cultural heritage and your relationship to it.

Nordics prefer minimalism and muted colors, while LATAM nations love bright colors and complex patterns. The more you identify with your culture, the more of its cultural heritage your Aesthetic Realm carries.

Personal experience and field of work.

We tend to like what we're familiar with.

For example, the aesthetic realms of fashion folks or artists are wide and rich — an abundance of styles with a high bar for design. Realms of other audiences, like biotech scientists or hardware nerds or gaming streamers, may be more monolithic and seamless.

Social and economic context.

Historically, particular styles were used by particular social groups, which also included methods of production — commissioning craftsmen vs doing-it-yourself — and materials of artifacts — gold and diamonds vs more affordable materials.

This separation covers all aspects of design: even today, some typefaces signal exclusivity, while others carry military or underground vibes.

Individual personality.

Extroverts and introverts, hustlers and deep thinkers, people who value order and those who thrive in chaos… Every personality type would prefer different aesthetics and can be more or less open to exploring new styles.

With such a variety, do you really think you and your customers live in the same Aesthetic Realm? And if not — which is more likely — how can you anticipate their preferences and choose a style that they will love at first sight?

You can do it in just three steps. We'll unpack them on Wednesday. See you then!

Yours,
Ira