DESIGN BEAUTY. FORM OR FUNCTION?

What's beauty? Is it how something works or is it just looks? Is it subjective to every viewer with no tangible quality? I believe we need beauty in visual design as well as function. The most secure banking application or data vault obviously doesn't have to appeal to the user visually in so much as it works & it's secure.

What about websites that see regular use & aren't concerned with government level security protocols? What about websites for everyday users like you & me? I'm of the opinion that form follows function in most cases. Even the most visually appealing website or program can be a huge disappointment in its functionality or UX (user experience). I do think we can build around a design idea, which is templating, but the majority of websites are functional first, then form.

If you look at a bird for example, its wings are created in such a way as to provide the ability to fly. These wings could be most any color I would suppose but they happen to be certain colors on top of a functional design. If we designed an airplane any way other than a way which allows it to fly, it doesn't matter what color it is. It's a colorful, useless plane. You may think that's drawing a conclusion across differing things but even in web design there are certain protocols that are followed for functionality. The true artwork begins when combining these two qualities. Can we build responsive, logical, functional sites that are visually striking & aesthetically beautiful? Surely all the art is not in the architecture of code & markup. At the same time all the art is not in the visual styling. We're left understanding that truly beautiful websites combine the best of function & form.