The Aesthetics of Technology

It is a common misconception that the job of a designer is solely to style a product in a way that is aesthetically pleasing. In reality, the work of a designer is far more expansive and varied covering all aspects of the product's function, manufacture and user interaction.

That being said, aesthetics is the aspect of design that people usually relate to the most. It can be the difference between someone picking one product up off the shelf over another and even paying more for it despite the function of the two products being identical.

To stay relevant to current tastes, product aesthetics change with the times to reflect fashion trends and advances in technology. To demonstrate this, we'll briefly be looking at some examples of how the radio has evolved over the course of the 20th century.

This is a depiction of a 1920s family listening to a radio. The picture alone shows that the radio had a very different role in family life to the role it occupies today. The family would gather around it and listen together much like a modern family might watch TV. The other striking aspect is the size of it. You might think that this is due to the size of the technology inside but this isn't the case. There were many smaller radios available at the time.

The size of the wireless cabinet reflects the radio's role as a status symbol. In many ways, the wireless was the centre of a home. If you had a large, grand, ornate wireless, you were clearly someone important. The styling of the cabinet shows how at this time, a radio was considered more of a furniture item than an individual product.

The Tesla Talisman was actually designed in the late 1930s but not released until the 1950s

The world was not ready!

Fast forward to the 1950s and the radio has changed a lot. It is much smaller, the casing material has gone from hardwood to Bakelite and it now has radical streamlined styling. With the television now the centre of the family home, the radio has found a new role as a personal media device. Now everyone can have their own radio and listen to the stations that they choose.

The streamlined styling is a reflection of the advances in aerospace and automotive technology at the time. By making reference to these cutting edge advancements in transport, the user associates the radio with being the height of modernity.

It's worth noting that this is just one example. Trying to sum up the aesthetics of a 1950s radio is almost impossible due to the huge range of styles, colours and shapes available at the time. This in many ways reflects how the radio had become a personal item with manufacturers now catering to every taste.

This is an example of a modern analogue radio. Again, advances in electronics have seen the product become smaller. Perhaps more significantly, improved battery technology has also seen it become portable. The styling of the product is fairly bland and unremarkable in complete contrast to the enormous ornate cabinet of the 1920s. Perhaps this shows how over the last century, the radio has gone from being a status symbol to an everyday item.

In the digital radio sector however, something slightly odd has happened. Many manufacturers are offering modern radios with retro 1950s style casings. Perhaps the more vibrant, colourful aesthetic makes the product feel more special as it did half a century ago.