Glad to read your comment! I definitely agree that rounded edges are becoming more and more prevalent around us – heck, the best place to see it happening is in designer furniture (whether they’re actually functional I have no idea). But it’s interesting you bring up the point about website design – About logos/buttons/theme of a site’s design, all the rounded edges I think we can attribute that one of the causes was the “Web 2.0” look. Yet about websites, let me just list out a couple of sites in which rounded edges just aren’t key to design. (key – being the operative term)
The Verge, Engadget, Anandtech, Reuters, BBC, CNN, Facebook, Gmail, IGN, Cnet, Audi, Ford, Samsung. Then go to Apple.com > the extent to which curves/rounded edges are being used as a key element of design I would reckon is pretty discernible. I don’t know how you feel about the design, but personally I feel somewhat turned off by Apple’s site after hopping over from the verge/CNN. There are so -many rounded edges, and somehow I really get a vibe of just form over function.
(Just for reads, about web 2.0 here and here)
The psychological part definitely sounds plausible – I’m not that keen to jump onto that bandwagon because it seems like somewhat of a large leap, but I definitely agree with the logic there (assuming it holds, of course.childhood behavioral psychology; who can really say for sure?)
I’d have to say that engineers and manufacturers probably have little say in the matter; designers come up with the designs and the former just make them happen. My opinion is that engineers and manufacturers would rather not have to deal with these soft/round edges. A soft/round edge inherently involves greater amount of investment in coming up with the final product (be it extra effort/machining, or wasted material perhaps/the expenditure in reusing that material) Say the curved glass corners on the iphone – that’s probably not cast in place but cut out – what of the excess? (the Nokia 800/900 has smooth edges too, but those are probably cast from a powdered form of plastic so it’s not that big a problem) The milling of the unibody frame for MBP/MBA/imitators – all the filings? Even on a software/processing level, rounded edges exert a cost (simple example – smoothing edges on text has an appreciable effect on graphics.). Rendering a rectangle/straight edged cuboid takes far less time than a geometrically stunning curved surface etc. (Present day computing developments reduce the apparent costs incurred, but my point still stands, if you get my drift..)
Of course everything’s a balance – One of my takeaways from reading all the comments here is that I do appreciate curves, but not to the extent of having them the way Apple uses them (thus far).
