Looking Good- It’s All About Form and Proportions

Posted by Michael Paloian on 10 May 2010

 

Have you ever wondered why some things strike you as beautiful and others look really bad? Next time you go shopping for a car, furniture, jewelry, a vacuum cleaner or whatever new gadget you must own, ask yourself this question and take a close look at your new purchase. Look at their overall shape and notice proportions of various features within the product. Although all humans share a common fundamental sense of what is proportionally correct, the precise balance between what is visually appealing or unappealing will vary according to a number of factors. The Greeks tried to define beauty based on the ratio of 1 : 1.618 established by the mathematician Euclid of Alexandria in 300 BC. This ratio influenced all Greek architecture including the Parthenon as well as classical paintings, furniture and sculptures for more than two millennium.  Even today contemporary buildings, graphic layouts and products are still based on this ratio.

 

The majority of modern architecture, product design and graphic design have evolved beyond rigidly defined formulaic principles. Today proportions are more varied and applied to designs with a freer, more experimental approach.  Regardless of the designer’s principles, proportions must be considered and controlled in the design development. If proportions are ignored a product could unintentionally look childish, too fragile, too massive or simply unstable.  To clarify this point let’s examine a product that is easily visualized by all of us, the chair. If a chair is designed with a paper thin seat, massive conical legs and a very tall back support, it might look very unique but appear ridiculous or even hideous. A floor  shop vacuum cleaner could be designed with four basketball sized casters and a coffee can sized canister. These proportions would not only make it look ridiculous but also impractical to use.

 

These examples are obviously extreme application of inappropriate proportions. More often, designers who have a limited understanding of aesthetics tend to approach these extremes by applying massive radii to every edge of a product or including an oversized curve to a surface which begins to make their design look more like a child’s toy than a quality durable product.  Skillful control of proportions and overall form can convey a character and intended use within a product. For example, a rotationally molded transport case with large rounded external corners and well proportioned ribs along exterior surfaces will project a more rugged look than a case with sharp external edges and no ribbing.  Conversely a rotationally molded medical cart would look much more elegant with restrained curved surfaces and small external radii versus a rectangular shape with large edge radii and ribs like those of the transport case.

 

Proportions should not only affect molded features but also use of colors, textures, labels, graphics and hardware. Some products may warrant proportionally large bold molded in graphics to create excitement or make a statement such as a sporting good.  On the other hand, a food cart would be more suitably branded with a subtle recessed embossed logo or small brightly colored label bearing the company name. Application of various colors to a product will often add visual appeal to the overall design. However if yellow and grey are applied to a rotationally molded floor cleaner in equal proportions, the product could begin to resemble a giant bumblebee. Conversely a predominantly light grey floor cleaner with a few bright yellow details would be more visually appealing and less aggressive.

 

I hope this brief introduction to proportion will inspire you to take a more critical look at the things around you with the intent to understand how it was applied to create the image you have reacted to. Good designs are skillfully created with specific intent by designers who understand human emotions as well as the products they will ultimately use.

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