Eric's Aesthetics Page
Objects that I admire generally exhibit the following qualities:
Cost effectiveness
Efficiency
Functionality
Simplicity
To me, those qualities define an elegance that I appreciate and seek out in furniture, clothing, automobiles, etc.
I tend to disdain things considered "luxurious" by others. I find that "luxurious" items tend to violate several of the above criteria, to their disadvantage.
As far as colors and patterns, I usually prefer basic bright colors. Bright blues, reds, pinks, yellows, greens, etc. are great. Either no pattern or a simple pattern with only one or two bright colors is preferable.
Using my taste in automobiles as an example, for many years I drove a 1988 Ford Festiva automobile. This met my criteria as follows:
Cost effective (purchased new for less than $6000, including taxes, title, etc.)
Efficient (equipped with standard manual transmission and a "peppy" 1.3 liter engine, it had an EPA gas mileage of 38 mpg city, 40 mpg highway)
Functional (Extremely efficient use of interior space, with cavernous head room, leg room, with huge luggage area when the back seat is folded down)
Simplicity (no fancy gadgets to drive up the price and increase possibilities of breakdowns, like power seats, power windows, power mirrors, power door locks, automatic transmission, etc.)
New automobiles which I would presently consider for purchase include:
Scion xB (ultra-reliable, efficient, cost-effective, cavernous space, built by Toyota)
Honda Fit (ultra-reliable, efficient, cost-effective)
Toyota Yaris (ultra-reliable, efficient, cost-effective)
Nissan Versa
Honda Civic Hybrid (ultra-reliable, efficient, cost-effective, but somewhat low on rear-seat headroom)
Honda Insight (a hybrid gas/electric vehicle). This is the first of what likely will be several innovative environment-friendly technologies that will be unveiled over the next few years. Another technology with similar promise that we will likely see in the next few years are fuel cell cars. Fuel cell powered cars use oxygen and hydrogen as their fuel and the only exhaust is pure water!
Toyota Prius (another hybrid gas/electric vehicle)
To send Eric an E-Mail, click here.
This page last updated 09/14/06
© 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 Eric E. Haas