Introduction: Motorcycle and the Semantics of Design

Abstract

Despite the advances in neuropsychology and codification of various determinants of aesthetics, aesthetics largely remains a nonquantifiable subjective aspect. Though, elements of grammar of aesthetics have been qualitatively defined, it is still not possible to describe the aesthetics in quantitative terms in the same way  as  we can describe the dynamics or acoustics of an industrial object. On the other hand, it forms one of the most important components of industrial design—especially, automobile design. This creates an anomaly where the large chunk of automobile design remains in the realm of mathematics, aesthetics remains out of its ambit. This creates a gaping hole in the material available on automobile design, which the book proposes to fill. Since, motorcycle has a far more complex visual aesthetics compared to a four-wheeler, as it is composed of several components as diverse as an engine to seat to wheels to windscreen whereas car is more or less a single object visually. So, motorcycle has been chosen as an object to deconstruct aesthetics in order to quantify it. This chapter takes the reader to a short visit through the book and explains what one should expect from the book.