Originally Posted by Freebase Dali

The weird thing is, there is obviously an aspect of subjectivity to aesthetic that, to the common observer, they automatically assume that whatever they like qualifies as legitimate aesthetic. But the truth of the matter is that there are core design principles that have to be followed, that are based in human nature and response to begin with, that makes the foundation of design more of an objective thing before the subjective part of it ever comes into play.

I haven't taken a single design course in my life, and I feel this instinctively. We can't just go all willy-nilly declaring that such and such is objectively great simply because we personally enjoy it. There has to be the fundamentals of why design is aesthetic to begin with, and then we build on that with our own interpretations based on those fundamentals.

Most people I come across do not seem to understand this. It is surprising, however, that people who are (I assume) learning about that concept in design school, are not adhering to those basic principles.
And if they are, yet their personal tastes don't utilize those principles effectively, then I guess there are just some things people are simply not good at.