He has developed 'face masks' based on the mathematics of the Golden Ratio and claims that the faces of people who could be described as 'attractive' appear to fit into the outlines appearing on the masks. Professor Stephen Marqu ardt believes that human attractiveness is related to the Golden Ratio.

Golden Section proportions may also be found in the 'layout' of our faces.(From the tip of your index finger working your way in towards your palm.) Each bone in the index finger of your hand is approximately 1.618 times larger than the bone preceding it.eg The ratio of hand to forearm generally approximates the Golden Ratio.Perhaps the reason human beings appear to prefer Golden Ratio proportions and find their use visually appealing is because at a subconscious level we are accustomed to seeing these approximate proportions in ourselves and each other - in our arms / bodies / faces etc (As a rule, photographers tend to make mention of Golden Section proportioning when discussing composition and so possibly make use of it more consciously and deliberately within their work than designers do.)Įxamples of the Golden ratio as it appears in the human body However it may be that some people who gravitate towards the art and design fields have an intuitive understanding of this system of proportion and make use of it unconsciously. It is probably fair to say that m any designers do not consciously use the Divine Proportion in their day to day work. It is argued that an image or structure based on (or approximately based on) the measurements of the Divine Proportion will stand a good chance of being aesthetically pleasing to audiences of many cultural backgrounds.ĭesigners can use this understanding of proportion in an effort to make their work more visually appealing. (The mathematical formula of the Divine proportion is (BA divided by CA) = (CA divided by BA) The ratio 1 : 1.618 is also known as the Greek letter Phi. The appearance of rectangles created using the Golden Ratio is based on the Divine Proportion. (The Geometry of Design, Princeton Architectural Press, New York, 2001)Ĭlick here to see how a golden section rectangle is drawn

'The Geometry of Design' a book by graphic designer called Kimberley Elam refers to this (GoldenSection1.psd) Similar experiments have been undertaken and have achieved approximately the same results. He measured thousands of rectangular items - eg books, newspapers, boxes, buildings etc - and found that the majority of people prefer to look at and use rectangular objects with proportions of around 1:1.618 Many people - despite differing cultural backgrounds - appear to find these compositional proportions aesthetically pleasing.Īt the end of the 19th Century, a German psychologist called Gustav Fechner researched human response to rectangular shapes based on the Golden Ratio (1:1.618)

The Golden Ratio - 1:1.618 (also known as the Golden Section) Which of the rectangles below do you feel looks the most pleasingly proportioned?

Golden rectangle examples