In some embodiments of the present invention, a method for designing one or more surfaces of an ophthalmic optical element for an eye suffering at least from higher order aberrations includes computing an eye model and optimizing a merit function. The eye model may be computed from data on defocus of the eye, astigmatism of the eye and the higher order aberrations. The merit function may be defined in terms of the eye model and in terms of parameters of a representation of the surfaces. The optimization of the merit function yields a set of optimized parameters which can be used to obtain a description of the surfaces. The ophthalmic optical element may be a lens for spectacles, a contact lens, an intraocular lens or a multifocal lens for spectacles. The method may also be used to design the topography of corneal tissue.