5 ms·

I always wonder why, biologically, these are so satisfying to look at. Why was it advantageous for monkey-grandpa to like these?

jrlocke 9y ago
At the end of the day our monkey-derived brains still run legacy code wired to find ripe fruits.
captainmuon 9y ago
Looks like fruit, or water? Or the open sky?
arvidkahl 9y ago
I'd guess any gradient is a soothing thing to look at contrasted with sharp edges, which would signify danger or at least potential of physical damage. And they're very natural colors, as are found in sunsets, plants, vistas of the forest - all non-threatening and putting the mind at ease.
torgoguys 9y ago
FWIW, I don't find these gradients especially pleasing. (They're fine, but I find some of them a bit much). I don't know why I would be different, but there it is. Just throwing a hypothesis out there--I'm not a Mac nor IOS guy, and if those that find them especially pleasing by-and-large are then maybe that's the link. Again, that's just wild speculation without any data to back it up. Then again, some of these style gradients are used in Ubuntu graphics too (and I again find their presence there a bit much,) so maybe there is a bigger shift towards them. In any event, I'm guessing it is cultural and not hardwired by monkey-grandpa genes.
- dfc 9y ago
  My breath was not taken away either. The first couple were fine--in the sense that they were not offensive--but after scrolling down a little bit I started to find the pairings a bit repulsive. I am also not an mac/ios person but I don't know why that is relevant to aesthetic preferences.
  - torgoguys 9y ago
    > I am also not an mac/ios person but I don't know why that is relevant to aesthetic preferences. You get used to what you're exposed to. What looks hip and cool in graphic design from the 70s doesn't so pleasing today. I don't know if MacOS or IOS uses such gradients, but I believe Apple Music at least does (do a Google image search for Apple Music), so it is mostly a hunch on my part.
amelius 9y ago
Guess: because they look more natural, as if they interact with the surroundings.
Jack000 9y ago
difficult to extract visual features from a flat plane. Gradients give the visual cortex something to process, aiding localization. Probably the same reason that visual contrast is so important in design.

jrlocke 9y ago

At the end of the day our monkey-derived brains still run legacy code wired to find ripe fruits.

captainmuon 9y ago

Looks like fruit, or water? Or the open sky?

arvidkahl 9y ago

I'd guess any gradient is a soothing thing to look at contrasted with sharp edges, which would signify danger or at least potential of physical damage. And they're very natural colors, as are found in sunsets, plants, vistas of the forest - all non-threatening and putting the mind at ease.

torgoguys 9y ago

FWIW, I don't find these gradients especially pleasing. (They're fine, but I find some of them a bit much). I don't know why I would be different, but there it is. Just throwing a hypothesis out there--I'm not a Mac nor IOS guy, and if those that find them especially pleasing by-and-large are then maybe that's the link. Again, that's just wild speculation without any data to back it up. Then again, some of these style gradients are used in Ubuntu graphics too (and I again find their presence there a bit much,) so maybe there is a bigger shift towards them. In any event, I'm guessing it is cultural and not hardwired by monkey-grandpa genes.

dfc 9y ago
My breath was not taken away either. The first couple were fine--in the sense that they were not offensive--but after scrolling down a little bit I started to find the pairings a bit repulsive. I am also not an mac/ios person but I don't know why that is relevant to aesthetic preferences.
- torgoguys 9y ago
  > I am also not an mac/ios person but I don't know why that is relevant to aesthetic preferences. You get used to what you're exposed to. What looks hip and cool in graphic design from the 70s doesn't so pleasing today. I don't know if MacOS or IOS uses such gradients, but I believe Apple Music at least does (do a Google image search for Apple Music), so it is mostly a hunch on my part.

amelius 9y ago

Guess: because they look more natural, as if they interact with the surroundings.

Jack000 9y ago

difficult to extract visual features from a flat plane. Gradients give the visual cortex something to process, aiding localization. Probably the same reason that visual contrast is so important in design.