Sonification Design and Aesthetics

This chapter addresses issues of functionality and aesthetics in sonification by advocating a design- oriented approach that integrates scientific and artistic methods and techniques. Design is an iterative practice-based discipline involving cycles of hypothesis testing and critical evaluation that aims for solutions to specific problems in context. The reviews design methods and practice in sonification and argues for a pragmatic information aesthetic that distinguishes sonification from computer music and psychoacoustics. It argues that the design approach can allow sonification to become a mass medium for the popular understanding and enjoyment of information in a non-verbal sonic form.