Beautiful Websites Make You, Me, & Everyone Happy
Consider this: if your website is beautiful, your website visitors will feel good.
As human beings, despite each of our unique qualities, we can agree that beautiful things make us feel good. This raises several questions, starting with:
- What is beauty?
- Why do we find things beautiful?
- Why do beautiful things make us happy?
We think the “Why Beautiful Things Make us Happy – Beauty Explained” video by design studio Kurzgesagt tackles the above questions well. The video breaks down why beautiful things make us happy by defining and explaining what beauty is.
What is beauty?
As stated by Kurzgesagt, “Beauty is nothing tangible, it only exists in our heads as a pleasant feeling.”
Think about it, among humans, no one should be losing any self-confidence in thinking that they’re not beautiful. We each have our own tastes, desires, needs, and wants. No one human is perfect or perfect-looking. We all have our own faults. The thing is, anything can be beautiful.
“A lot of things can be beautiful. Landscapes, faces, fine art, or epic architecture, stars in the sky, or simply the reflection of the sun on an empty bottle.”
Designs that make us happy are beauty.
There is still a common denominator in what objects and design we find beautiful, and it is all found in what designs make us happy. Trends are largely unpredictable and they come and go over time, but symmetry and patterns remain pleasant to the eye. We can all agree that since the dawn of time, some form of pattern and symmetry is regarded as calming, comforting, and makes us happy. That is what we can all consider as beauty.
Why do we find things beautiful?
“Things that help us survive, activate the rewards center in our brains. Recognizing signals of safety and nutrition triggers nice feelings in us. So our sense of beauty probably evolved from pattern recognition,” shared Kurzgesagt.
Beauty activates the rewards center in our brains.
Researchers have not been able to pinpoint exactly why we find things beautiful. One broad reason why we find things beautiful that has been observed over several millennia is survival. We choose what has been time-tested in order to help us survive.
Why do beautiful things make us happy?
“Humans don’t like monotony. Eye-tracking software has shown that people keep focusing on details and ornaments of architecture while brushing quickly over blank walls. And not only are they no fun to look at, they actually make us miserable. Experiments with skin sensors showed that looking at vast, dull facades makes us feel bored and uncomfortable. This kind of boredom has been linked to raised heart rates and stress levels,” shared Kurzgesagt.
Beauty affects us on a daily basis.
We take in our surroundings using our senses, just by living. Look around wherever you are right now and think about where your eyes are drawn to. Whether or not wherever your eyes just rested upon is inspiring to you or not, that thing was most likely the most beautiful thing in the room, at that moment. If that thing was exceptional, you likely felt happy. If it was not, you may need to reevaluate your surroundings for reasons that may be more than aesthetically-related.
Our brains thrive on meaningful information.
Drumroll… here is the most shining quote in the entire Kurzgesagt video that really summarizes how we should approach whatever we create, all of the time.
“Beauty meets an inherent need for meaningful information.”
Our brains are repelled by monotony, though we find comfort in patterns and symmetry. How can we use that information to improve our lives from here? We must resist settling upon easy design for beautiful functionality that makes our brains happy.
That is why Smack Happy Design is dedicated to creating wonderful, user-friendly websites. Beautiful websites make people happy.
Maybe you’re still wondering, can you tell me that my website is beautiful? Can you make my website beautiful?
Beauty Is in the Eye of the Audience
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In regards to a website, the beholder is the website’s audience. While you want to create a website that is truly a representation of you and your core business, you need to consider what your website’s audience will see.
Functionality Is a Website Beauty Staple
A beautiful website is any website that caters to what its audience is looking for. Create a buyer persona, find out what resonates with your audience, and your website will be beautiful. Your website’s message needs to clearly communicate with your audience to incite a positive response with your business. This applies to any and all business websites.
Websites can consistently make people happy.
At Smack Happy Design, we design websites that make people happy. If you need help elevating your website’s design, we can get you to where you need to be. Contact us today to learn how our unique approach to web design, illustration, user interface, and more can help better attract visitors to your website.