Utilitarian design

Utilitarian design is an art concept that argues for the products to be designed based on the utility (as opposed to the "contemplated pleasure" of beauty). For example, an object intended for a narrow and practical purpose does not need to be aesthetically pleasing, but it must be effective for its task^[2] and inexpensive: a steel power pylon carries electric wires just as well as a marble column would, and at a much lower cost.^[3]

While an artefact designed with complete disregard of appearance (purely or strictly utilitarian design) can be imagined, David Pye argues that such objects do not exist, as the human nature makes it impossible to design anything without even a slightest consideration of its appearance.^[4] As far back as in the Paleolithic Age, the stone tools were sometimes manufactured with better quality than the one required for the task. According to Pye, in practice the "purely utilitarian" objects are the ones made to fit the purpose at the lowest possible cost, from scaffolding to an oil refinery. In many cases making things more pleasing to the eye incurs no extra cost, and the techniques that result in better appearance are chosen in these cases. For example, the proper application of plaster to brick walls fulfills both functional (stopping the drafts) and aesthetic (smooth surface) goals.^[5]

There is no clear boundary between the result of the utilitarian design and an object of art, with a classic example provided by cars. An automobile is simultaneously a very utilitarian mean of transportation and a highly personalized extension of ego.^[6] Since the innovations in the utility and appearance are covered by two different mechanisms of intellectual property protection (patents for functionality, copyrights and trademarks for aesthetics), issues of the utilitarian design are of great interest to the courts and legal scholars.^[7][8]

The concept of utilitarian design is strongly associated with the Bauhaus school that championed it in the early 20th century.^[9]