Reddit mentions of Vision Science: Photons to Phenomenology

Stephen Palmer, Vision Science: From photons to phenomenology

http://www.amazon.com/Vision-Science-Phenomenology-Stephen-Palmer/dp/0262161834

This may not be exactly what you were asking for, but as someone who's interested in both philosophical aesthetics and design, I've found basic color theory and vision science a very useful thing to learn about. Here's a great vision science book that keenly engages our experience of the world.

Another completely different source of inspiration I've found for thinking about abstract principles in aesthetic experience has come from Scott McCloud's book Understanding Comics. It really does explore a bunch of complex ideas about how we can piece together a beautiful/ugly/complex/dynamic/static/etc. picture of the world from two dimensional images. It's not just about comics at all.

It's on my bookshelf, although currently reading more on emergent phenomena, such as Philip Ball's Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads to Another and some books on game theory. GEB, of course, was a big influence too :)

Regarding perception, I still tend to refer to my undergrad perception textbook Vision Science: Photons to Phenomenology. It's highly readable, even if you're not a specialist, although if you are interested in something more easy to digest, there is Richard Gregory's seminal book Eye and Brain, which is a great introduction to vision science and perception.