087 MAYA
A strategy for determining the most commercially viable aesthetic for a design.
• The most advanced yet acceptable principle (MAYA) was proposed by Raymond Loewy, the father of industrial design.
• MAYA asserts that aesthetic appeal is a balancing act between uniqueness and familiarity—i.e., a product should stretch the definition of a product category, but still be recognizable as a member of that category.
• The principle has been tested empirically, and it does appear that the most novel design that is also somewhat familiar has the greatest aesthetic appeal.
• Consider MAYA when designing for general audiences. In contexts where aesthetic assessments are made by design or art experts, MAYA does not apply. In these cases, novelty ...
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