How luxury brands engineer desire with behavioural economics
From scarcity to market architecture, luxury fashion is manipulating our tastes. But a vintage countermovement has begun
by Charlotte Wren
Beauty and aesthetics
You don’t need perfect features to be physically beautiful
New research reveals that physical attractiveness is more about personal compatibility than meeting universal standards
by Annett Schirmer
What if animals find beauty in the world, just like we do?
Chimpanzees favour the colour red. Junglefowl prefer symmetry. Our shared capacity for aesthetic pleasure is cause for wonder
by Brandon Keim
Why do beautiful people also seem smart and likeable?
Psychologists have known about the ‘halo effect’ for ages. New research suggests the power of language can help explain it
by Chris F Westbury & Daniel King
How to think about the sublime
An exquisite mix of fear and awe, pleasure and pain, the sublime stretches the imagination and reveals the limits of reason
by Nicole A Hall
‘Nothing renders their beauty’ – can art ever capture the splendour of a flower?
A film by Miléna Trivier
Could that tingle down the spine be a way to rediscover joy?
In new research, scientists have looked into the potential benefits of giving people with depression the aesthetic chills
by Shayla Love
How to take better photos
Anyone can learn the principles that are essential to capturing quality images. Follow these tips and see the difference
by Paul Pope
Why art seems more beautiful when you can see yourself in it
Research suggests that people find artworks more aesthetically pleasing when they’re personally relevant to them in some way
by Matt Huston
What is the secret to an evocative smell description?
Many languages have very few odour-related words, so conveying what a scent is like requires knowing your audience
by Giulia Martina
‘I’ll always err on the side of beauty’ – a mother’s cinematic ode to her son
Directed by Kelly O’Brien
To master the art of close looking, learn to hold time still
Visual literacy is a skillset that’s rarely taught, but it begins with learning how to look – and how to hold time still
by Grace Linden
Is the attunement of abstract art and music more than a metaphor?
How does the abstract art of Kandinsky and Klee imitate the meaning and emotion in the music of Shostakovich and Bach?
by Michelle Liu
How to appreciate buildings
It’s easy to become blasé about the built world. Tune in more deeply and architectural adventures await around each corner
by Colin Ellard
Beauty is not an ornament to the good life, it is at its heart
Why does the hand want to draw what the eye sees as beautiful? Why do we respond to beauty by creating the beautiful?
by Nick Riggle
They’re playing our song! The philosophical puzzle of cover songs
Can a song be both the original and a copy? Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, and the ‘crazy’ philosophical puzzle of song covers
by P D Magnus