Interpretation of Humanistic Connotation of Digital Media Visual Expression from the Perspective of Design Aesthetics

Abstract

Today, visual meaning is created, communicated and received predominantly through visual expression in digital media: interface design, motion graphics, data visualisation and algorithmically generated images. This paper argues that the humanistic connotation of digital media visual expression is not completely understood by formality aesthetics or technical functionality, but needs a design aesthetics context that combines the Bauhaus heritage of form-function unity, Barthes' semiological interpretation of visual meaning, and Manovich's cultural logic of new media. Three dimensions of humanistic connotation are identified and analysed: the cultural memory dimension, where digital visual forms encode and transmit collective identity and historical consciousness; the empathic dimension, where human-centred interface and interaction design builds affective relationships between users and digital environments; and the critical dimension, where design aesthetics enables the identification and resistance of algorithmic visual homogenisation as a threat to cultural diversity and humanistic plurality. The article also contends that the spread of AI-generated images and platform-driven design uniformity provide a structural challenge to the humanistic roots of digital visual culture. It finishes with a framework for a humanistic design practice that prioritises cultural specificity, embodied aesthetics and ethical visual communication as essential design values.