Design, fashion art, architecture all make use of symmetry. If a design or a structure is symmetrical, then it has balance and harmony, which people say makes it pleasant to look at. Symmetry speaks of deep connections that lie underneath superficial differences. When symmetry appears even subtly, it causes an intuitive excitement.
Symmetry is often referred to one of the more quantifiable areas of design. Its language is mathematics. Snowflakes are beautiful because they embody just the right amount of symmetry. People find symmetry beautiful whether it is in mathematically perfect spirals of snails and shells.
Nature uses symmetry to signal the well-being of an individual. Most animals have a bilateral symmetry. The left side is a mirror image of the right-hand side if the body is viewed along a plane that bisects it laterally.
Geometrical symmetries such as those that characterise simple shapes like circles and squares are obvious at a glance.
Symmetry and approximate symmetry can communicate harmony and stability.
Beware of symmetry?
Others argue that reverence for aesthetic principle such as symmetry lead to stagnant, simplistic thinking. When we revere something too much we have a tendency to not want to move on. In visual design approach it with extreme caution. Symmetrical layouts can easily become static or flat.
Symmetry of art
The greek vase has survived, not because of its decorations and pictures as beautiful as these are, but because of its extraordinary beauty of form. To the Ancient Greek, the form of the vase was of vital importance, the vase painting was actually secondary.
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