I’ve been using the mug as a mundane and ubiquitous object to explore everyday aesthetic preferences.
Asking people to share their favourite and least favourite mugs and the reason for their choices.
Unsurprisingly, what some find lovely others find ugly. Two members of one family separately attributed ugly/lovely to the same mug. Expressions of dislike can be more vociferous.
My research is exploring how design can support the expression of everyday personal aesthetic preferences in dementia:
How do you like your tea?
How much do we really know about the personal preferences of our friends and family?
We might ask ” How do you like your tea? (milk/sugar/strong/weak).
But do we ever ask what would you like to drink your tea in?
Mug or cup? Large or small ? China or stoneware? Patterned or plain? Colour?
Lovely Mug
My favourite mugs are probably the least functional they hold they hold less coffee.And this is so small, but it does feel I have small hand, so it feels nice.
I like that the different size handles suggest that these are handmade.
And how the glaze is different on each of them, and more light-hearted because they’re very light blue. More earthy and organic. It’s got different moments in it’s like it’s almost like you’re looking at the earth from an airplane you know it’s like.
I find them quite calm. there is there’s a different vibe different energy.
Your lovely mug is my ugly mug
I find this very very ugly. My husband chose these and he likes the texture and the way the inside and the outside is. I also have a friend that loves to have her tea in this.
I find it very, very ugly. I find the shape ugly. I don’t like this sort of semi matte (surface). It looks like plastic, to me. It’s featureless and boring, and I really don’t like it.
It’s tall. It’s really horribly tall. It’s too tall and narrow. It is a preposterous shape for a cup.
I never get it out of the cupboard. I sometimes get it out when my friend comes but not always – because I don’t want to watch (her) drinking it!
This is the cup that I use all the time with all the flowers and everything round it. I like the flowers and the blooms of the flowers. Very nice.
They all know that it’s my cup.
I find myself lifting the cup and my little finger goes up
it just goes up unconsciously, and I think: is it just counter balancing the weight, or is it inherited fussiness?
My granny might have done that. Not my mum though. She was a sculptor. Her hands were really strong, and she wasn’t someone that was terribly fussed about finesse. She was more like: shove it here, grab that, you know: here’s your mug of tea. Actually, though my mom really liked bone china, I’ve inherited that.
It’s such a boring mug in terms of aesthetics.
As in pattern.
But I like the shape of it and it’s a good size.
I like the curved bottom. It’s a good handle .
They’re the kinds of things that I look for when I am having a cup of tea.
Its just a very simple shape. That’s what I like about it.
But it’s just a bit boring isn’t it?
This is nice but it doesn’t please me apart from the shape.
I don’t like that it’s just a white china mug.
Lovely Mug/ Ugly Mug
This one used to be my favourite
But it is a bit too tall, but just marginally. I quite like this one, because the smallness of it, and it fits in my hand.
I remember watching how they made them. When we were in Cape Town we went to visit a couple of crafts people. They’ve got their own signature of the person that made it. Just watching how they so precisely put all the dots on was so clever. There’s quite a lot of texture on it like you can feel on the glaze
But then it cracked all the way down it. Now we just use it to measure out rice. It’s quite a handy size. Because I don’t want to get rid of it.
So, I really like that one, but I can’t use it anymore
Ugly Mug
That’s not mine and it’s horrible . I gave it to the charity shop. I wouldn’t have it in the house. Look at that handle, it’s horrible. Its very thick and it was heavy. Somebody gave it to me. The handle is uncomfortable. I don’t like the way the handle has been put on. It doesn’t flow from the body of the cup. Aesthetically it doesn’t please me. The mug is too thick and its not nice having a thick rim. It’s not a nice shape. It’s a commercially bought one. I reckon it’s made on a machine. You churn them out. I wouldn’t drink out of it.
No it’s not the most important thing in my life, by any means. But I suppose If it was the only one and I wanted a drink. I would drink out of it. But I wouldn’t choose it to have in my home, no. If I was visiting somebody and I got it in one of those, I would have to drink out of it. I wouldn’t say anything.
I know what I like