Golden Ratio – Guide Rather than Law

In: Art and Design, Decorative & Applied Arts, Decorative Arts Dictionary, Design History, Dictionaries
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Since the Renaissance, many artists and architects have proportioned their creations to approximate the golden ratio. Many names, including the Phi Ratio, the Fibonacci Ratio, the Divine Ratio, the Golden Mean, and the Golden Section, have known the ratio.

The Fibonacci series is an infinite sequence of natural numbers: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, … The first two numbers of the sequence are 0 and 1. The other terms are the sum of 2 above terms in succession: 0 + 1 = 1, 1 + 1 = 2, 1 + 2 = 3, 2 + 3 = 5, 3 + 5 = 8, 5 + 8 = 13 .

Guide to Proportion

It is probably the most well-known guide to the proportion. It can dramatically improve the communication of your design.  While it is not meant to be prescriptive, one of the key aspects of design is composition. It still should be something you feel rather than create logically. However, the Golden Ratio’s mythical status in art and design should not be ignored entirely.

This sequence is owed to Leonardo of Pisa, also known as Fibonacci, a thirteenth-century Italian Mathematician. The sequence he discovered can be found in computing, mathematics, game design, the arrangement of cones, music, art and nature.

The Last Supper
Last supper and the Golden Ratio

The Masters used the Golden Ratio

Renowned artists have used the Golden Ratio proportions in their masterpieces in the past. The value of the golden ratio is equivalent to 1.618. It is used to determine the dimensions of a painting when it comes to size, composition, and colours. Leonardo’s ‘The Last Supper’ is based on the Golden Ratio. Whether this is by design or accident is still subject to speculation.

Fractal Geometry
Fractal Geometry – Two of the most critical properties of fractals are self-similarity and non-integer dimension.

Fractal Geometry

Fractal geometry consists of infinite repeating patterns. Fractals are most evident to us in Geometry. They demonstrate the geometrically spiraling pattern of the Golden Ratio. In nature, there are other “beautiful line patterns to be found; for example spider’s webs, leaf vein patterns, the arc of a rainbow, the line of tree buttresses”. 

George Clooney - Golden ratio
George Clooney – Golden ratio. Maths can be used to explain why George Clooney is one of the best-looking men in the world.

Facial Beauty

The face of perfect beauty is the distance between various facial features. For example, from the tip of the nose to the chin or the top of the head to the pupil of the eye. Jessica Simpson, George Clooney, and Paula Zahn have this perfect facial beauty.

Music

In music, the golden ratio is apparent in the organization of the sections in the music of Debussy and Bartok. For example, in Debussy’s piece, ‘Reflection in Water’, the sequence of keys is marked out by the intervals of 34, 21, 13, 8. The transcendental quality of this piece of music owes as much to the pianist as a product of a mathematical formula.

The Golden Ratio can help create a feeling of harmony and balance. In this context, I would apply it to my designs.  The message of my design and its application of the Golden Ratio would meet my design objectives.  Does it communicate what I need it to?

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