![]() ![]() So, if we take a length 55 as our starting point, we can make our spiral by drawing it inwards so that when it passes that starting point, the new length is 34. You can also form a spiral using side lengths based on the decreasing order of the Fibonacci sequence. However, the golden ratio doesn’t help us just to make nice rectangles. Literally, in fact: the magazine National Geographic uses a yellow rectangle proportioned according to the golden ratio. The eyes of the world view this ratio favorably. As designers, we need to keep this concept of comfort and familiarity in mind for our users. Perhaps because we’re surrounded by figures and shapes derived from the golden ratio, we’ve grown especially used to it. It’s used to determine the format of the vast majority of books on your physical bookcase. The architects of the day used it for the base and height of the Acropolis in Greece. We can find the golden ratio throughout the world of design. What you will see before you is not just any rectangle but the ideal rectangle! ![]() Or, if you can jump to another screen, create one in a drawing application. If you have a pencil, paper and ruler handy, try drawing a rectangle of this scale. So, the long side, in this instance, would have a length of 1.618. To calculate the most aesthetically pleasing rectangle, you simply multiply the length of the short side by the golden ratio approximation of 1.618. How is the ratio used in design? Think of a rectangle, with a short side of length 1. For our purposes, though, we don’t have to worry about going past 1.618. The ratio is approximately 1.618, although, like Pi, it has a long string of numbers after the decimal point. ![]() We can calculate the ratio using the formula above (we use the Greek letter Phi to represent the output). Fibonacci was a medieval Italian mathematician however, you don’t need to be a mathematician to understand this sequence, as it is so simple.Įach number in the Fibonacci sequence is simply the sum of the two numbers before it. The ratio is based on the relationship between consecutive numbers in the Fibonacci sequence. Its frequent appearances in geometry (in such shapes as pentagons and pentagrams) drew the attention of ancient Greek mathematicians, who began studying it at least 2400 years ago. In the Renaissance, it became a formalized part of design theory. The Golden Ratio has been used throughout history to create visually appealing designs. Today, we can use the golden ratio in our web and app designs to improve the layout and appeal to the eye, placing full confidence in this time-honored fact. The golden ratio was popularized in the Renaissance era, and the artists of that period sought to ensure that it was used to deliver aesthetically pleasing works. The Parthenon statues appear to show the golden ratio in their form, and some of Plato’s five solids (including the cube and the dodecahedron) are related to it, too. You can find examples of the golden ratio in human endeavors as far back as Ancient Greece. What is the appeal of this ratio? For centuries, it has been thought that art, architecture and nature are more appealing to the eye when the proportions of designs and structures are based on the golden ratio. With a history dating back almost to the time of Pi (another great mathematical formula, which is essential in understanding properties of circles), scholars, including Pythagoras and Euclid, have called it by many names, including the golden mean and the divine section. The golden ratio’s story is the stuff of legend. We will examine what this concept is and exactly how much it is a fundamental part of making designs pleasing to the user’s eye. Don’t worry we’re not going back into the classroom for long. Now, we’re going to look at a subject that comes directly from mathematics and that we can also find all around us – the golden ratio. ![]()
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