Good day, everyone! This is Masha Kaganovich here, a marketer at Western Bid. Today, we will discuss the topic of beauty. Does a single standard of beauty exist, or perhaps several standards? And we won’t be talking about high art or true beauty, right? No, no. We’re only talking about sales, we’re talking about handmade, about products you make yourself. That is, home decor, wall art, paintings for sale. In short, items sold on eBay, on Etsy, that you create.
Why is this topic so delicate
And very often, this topic is quite painful during my consultations. I’m honestly afraid to touch on it when people bring an item or, rather, don’t bring an item but show me their shop and ask: why are there no sales? Or they show some items they want to fill their shop with and ask: Masha, what do you think? After all, you can’t tell someone that these items are unattractive.
And please, be very careful with this because you can hurt a person very deeply and completely kill their motivation. Once, my uncle criticized my paintings so harshly that it killed my desire to create for several years. I stopped. My motivation to create was just crushed.
I just want to ponder a bit on this topic. I believe what I will share will be very interesting, because I will talk about various psychological triggers and some fascinating experiments that help us better understand this subject. So, at the end of this material, we will discuss examples directly side by side: attractive, unattractive, beautiful, ugly. Well, I don’t know, if you try to be original, you might say that a obviously unattractive item can be beautiful—something like that. But I will show examples that most people would consider unattractive, sold on marketplaces, compared to beautiful items. To develop, perhaps, on real examples, this feeling, yes, and the sense of beauty and ugliness.
By the way, I should tell you that I offer individual consultations, help many people promote their shops, find some middle ground and the right niches that have higher demand, lower competition, and improve thematic and aesthetic aspects, diagnose shops. Many people have benefited, please read the reviews.
“Analysis of Beauty” by William Hogarth
So, I came across an interesting book written back in the 18th century, in 1753, by a famous artist William Hogarth. It is called “Analysis of Beauty.” And in this book, he claims that yes, there is a certain standard. That is, beauty is not something relative or abstract. Beauty is something specific, mathematical, perhaps even spiritual. He derives the concept of beauty from some abstract and philosophical idea to something concrete, measurable.
He says that beauty consists of three components.
Firstly, the first component is variety. Our eye always perceives something new with greater interest than something familiar or monotonous. That’s why we often see new trends, new styles. Even if it differs completely from what was before, just because it’s new, we already perceive greater interest towards this trend. That is the first part.
The second part is proportion and unity. Beauty emerges when parts are harmoniously connected and create some movement. In my opinion, this is a rather abstract definition: what is harmonious, what creates movement? For example, this could be the combination of straight and curved lines. There can be many interpretations of this.
And the third—most interesting, which we will discuss in detail—is that he was able to define lines of beauty.
The line of beauty
You can’t imagine how much influence this book had on society and culture in the 18th century, and perhaps even into the early 19th century. So, what is the line of beauty? Here’s an example. It is a few lines he identified, which is that central, wavy, serpentine line—the S-shape line, so to speak. That curved, S-shaped line. This, as we know, often appears in nature—such winding path, and artists frequently use it in art, in women’s bodies, in body curves. This idea really had a profound impact on art, furniture styles, aesthetics that were popular, and fashion, which was trendy in the 17th-18th centuries.
How beauty standards have changed
But, as is known, then came the middle of the 19th century, impressionists appeared, then cubism, avant-garde. In short, all these winding lines in art and classical art as a whole changed significantly. And although initially impressionist works were often considered unfinished or, rather, dismissed as nonsense—something you try to save time on, not even art—these artworks were heavily criticized. Later, they evolved into cubism, modernism, where, as we know, all lines and shapes are simplified. Artists believed that all objects in life could be represented by simple lines and shapes, and so on.
Then modern styles came, like transitional or farmhouse. The most typical example of this new trend is mid-century modern. I call it “legs in different directions.” It’s characterized by straight lines and minimal curves. So, the concept of beauty has changed since then, and it’s hard to say why people still, when shown these examples, find this middle line the most beautiful.
Psychological triggers of beauty
However, I will tell you a few reasons why most people, perhaps, also find that this line, the middle S, is the most attractive.
The effect of central positioning
Look at three circles, choose the one you like the most. Blue or red. According to statistics, most people prefer the blue circle. Maybe because it’s blue, or maybe because it’s in the middle.
Programmers also noticed that when they offer players a character or team options in games—say, three or five teams—most choose the third if there are five, or the second if there are three, which is in the middle. In short, people have some subconscious, internal bias towards the middle position.
People want to choose a balance, something in the middle. Which marketers often use by offering three options, with a middle One that offers the highest value because it increases the likelihood of purchase and conversion from cart to checkout.
And when setting pricing for our items, we also want to stay in the middle, avoiding underpricing or being the most expensive on the market.
The meaning and inner content
Another factor influencing our perception of beauty is not only the middle line or symmetry but also the meaning and inner content. The more we understand what’s embedded inside this beauty or item, the more it affects us.
For example, look at sentences. What makes it look beautiful? I think, very beautiful. One can look at an elegant old French script and say: oh, how beautiful it looks. Often, people will say something in a language we don’t understand—that it looks and sounds very beautiful to our ears. But when we find out what it actually says, or what’s written in that beautiful language, our perception completely changes.
How to use this for product promotion
How do we often use this in marketing products? For example, the same item may seem completely unattractive, cheap, mass-market if produced somewhere in China or on an assembly line, sold in millions. The same item, if made with love, by a craftsman’s hand. I always say you can sell the same thing for $500 or $5 at Walmart. It depends heavily on perception: if it’s truly handmade, carved with love, or personalized, it will be perceived differently.
Similarly, we might walk into a museum, see a painting, and not immediately see its beauty—instead, think: hmm, okay. But if a guide tells us about color combinations, the artist’s inner idea—say, Kazimir Malevich’s Black Square—the way the information changes our view. I will never forget how, as a tenth-grader, a very progressive classmate explained to me for an hour and a half about cosmic themes and all, completely changing my perception of the Black Square. But it doesn’t matter here.
I’m explaining this because any person, after receiving more information, can consider the same object more or less beautiful—just interesting.
Is there eternal beauty?
Some people argue that certain things are timeless. Classical beauty or, as we said, symmetry, harmony—like facial proportions—that have always been considered beautiful across ages. But even this isn’t entirely true. Standards of beauty, female figures, and architectural ideals have changed greatly over time. From my point of view, it’s very hard to fit everything into a single line or a universal standard of beauty Hogarth tried to define.
The golden ratio
People also try to reduce everything in nature to a single number or proportion, the golden ratio, 1.618—what appears in much of nature in the form of spirals or wavy lines. If we see something geometric, exactly square, like an ancient mosaic—probably it was made by hand, indicating human craftsmanship. But claims that everything in nature follows this ratio are exaggerated, as many experiments show that spirals, for instance, have varying proportions, and not all adhere perfectly to the 1.618 number.
Beauty in the context of time and culture
A good artist, designer, or professional doesn’t try to answer “what is beauty” in general. Instead, they understand what is beautiful at this specific moment, in this particular culture. They experiment, using personal expression and components to create a beautiful object.
Modern aesthetics
Today, there are many popular beauty trends called aesthetics. One may correspond to another; for example, retro style aligns with mid-century modern. Geometric style may match Art Deco. We have many materials on our channel specifically created to showcase certain styles.
There are groups of people united by similar tastes. When we say “there’s no accounting for taste,” it’s not entirely true; people share tastes and preferences, just in different groups.
The importance of themed shops
Recently, a major trend has been to focus your shops on one overarching theme or aesthetic. Because a person who likes a certain style will likely buy other items matching that style—like a shelf, a painting, a mirror, a pillow—everything that aligns with that style. Focusing on one aesthetic increases conversion, enhances visual branding, and helps stand out among competitors.
About obviously unattractive items
There are items that most people, just by looking at, will unquestionably say are unattractive. For instance, think of a doll. What’s appealing about a doll? Full lips, shiny eyes, a strawberry or cherry. Making the eyes with a nice mouth can make it look more attractive, cute.
I can’t resist showing an example of a doll. I don’t even want to show it here because I don’t want to offend the master—who made it with a Neanderthal-like forehead, hanging over her eyes. Despite all the pretty eyes, cheeks, skill, nice clothes, ruffles, the forehead ruins the appearance.
Learning to see the difference
In short, I will now show you examples for comparison. To understand what is beautiful, you need to examine carefully what appears unattractive or ugly. Though, perhaps over time, we might see these objects and say: wow, actually, that’s very beautiful.
Currently, there’s even a trend to create intentionally unattractive objects—creepy cute, unbalanced, discordant. They have their own target audience. But deep down, we feel where there’s harmony between straight and curved lines, color and size, and where no harmony exists. We just can’t call those items beautiful and harmonious.
Conclusion
Does a single standard of beauty exist for handmade and decor?
No, there is no universal standard of beauty. Aesthetic perception in handmade depends on culture, trends, time, and individual buyer experiences. Sales are influenced by harmony of forms, interesting presentation, correct shop style, and psychological triggers—such as the central position effect or understanding the item’s meaning. The deeper the viewer understands the piece, the more beautiful it appears to them.
Why do some items seem beautiful to buyers, and others not?
Form beauty is shaped by several factors: variety, harmony of lines, balance between straight and curved shapes, and emotional content. Sometimes a product appears “ugly” because it lacks proportion, unity, or context. But telling a story, showing the handmade process—drastically changes perception. This is actively used in marketing on Etsy and eBay.
How can craftspeople use aesthetics to boost sales?
The best way is to choose a single aesthetic and build a themed shop around it. Buyers prefer shops with a consistent style: if they like one item in a certain aesthetic, they are more likely to buy others—artwork, mirrors, shelves, pillows— in that style. Focusing on one aesthetic increases conversion, strengthens visual recognition, and helps stand out among competitors.
Well, friends, I hope this topic has been interesting and useful for you. What are your thoughts on this abstract or concrete notion of beauty? Thank you very much for your attention. I hope this material has been truly helpful and interesting. Goodbye to all!
