Aesthetics is the study and theory of beauty. It plays an important role in the process of human cognition. The cabin of an 18 000 m ³ trailing suction hopper dredger is designed based on the theory and method of the visual aesthetics in the current study. The application of the visual aesthetics in the dredger is briefly illustrated by the practical case of the cabin design. The main factors that affect the cabin design by the visual aesthetics are finally summarized, which provides the perceptual cognition and design reference for the cabin designers.