Golden Ratio in User Interface

When we talk about the Golden Ratio, I often think of photography and how it can make a shot more interesting, especially by guiding the viewer’s eyes to the main focus point.?

What comes to your mind when you hear about it? Do you know it can also be applied to User Interfaces (UI) to make your designs look more aesthetic and virtual balanced?

Allow me to briefly share the history of the Golden Ratio, which has been used for centuries in various fields such as art, architecture, and design. The concept of the Golden Ratio was first mentioned as early as about 500 BC by figures like Phidias, Plato, and later Euclid. It has been referred to by numerous names, including the Golden Mean, Golden Ratio, Golden Section, Divine Proportion, and the Greek symbol φ (phi). This mathematical proportion is equal to x2 = x + 1 and its approximate value is 1.61803398874989482045.

Why Golden?Ratio?

According to Artsper Magazine, the Golden Ratio acts as an important rule in art, creating a balanced relationship that the mind’s eye loves. It embodies aesthetics, harmonious proportions, and beauty.

Did you know that it has also been introduced into UX/UI design? No doubt, when designing a website or application, as a UX/UI designer, you probably consider how to create virtual balance and establish hierarchy to guide users to what’s important.?

In this article, I will share with you the benefits of using it and how to apply it to your designs. Yeah!!!

Reasons to incorporate the Golden Ratio into your UX/UI?design

1. Visual Harmony?—?The golden ratio helps create visual balance in layouts and elements, including grids, spacing, and proportions. It contributes to a sense of harmony and coherence in designs.

2. Natural Human Proportions?—?The natural proportions found in the human body are similar to the value of the golden ratio. This association creates a sense of familiarity and beauty in designs that incorporate it.

3. Hierarchy and Focus?—?The golden ratio is akin to the Fibonacci Sequence, where each number is the sum of the two preceding ones (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, etc.). This sequence is prevalent in nature, seen in the arrangement of leaves on a stem or the spiral patterns of shells. As a result, it helps establish a clear hierarchy and guides the user’s attention to the focal point.

4. Psychological Impact?—?Studies suggest that designs following the golden ratio can evoke positive emotional responses from users. This positive result can lead to increased user satisfaction and engagement with the interface.

There are many more advantages to using the golden ratio rule, but I’ve highlighted these four important points to illustrate why it is essential and why you should consider applying it in your next design.?

Apply Golden Ratio into UX/UI?Design

Now, let’s explore how to establish the golden ratio together and also see real-world examples after these usage tips. As you may already know, its value is similar to the Fibonacci Sequence, and its proportion is defined by the letter φ (phi), which is equal to approximately 1.61803398874989482045. To obtain this rule, we can use a simple technique as shown below.

In the image above, the Golden Ratio is applied to the new rectangle. Now, draw an arch in each square, from one corner to the opposite corner as shown in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6; this will create the curves of the Golden Spiral or Fibonacci Sequence. As you can see in the picture, starting from zero, the sequence is: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, and so on.?

Whoa! A bit confused? I will explain in detail in the next step, hehe.

Golden Ratio in Typography

Did you know that it can also be applied to your body text, line-height, and headlines, creating a visual balance and making your UI more pleasant and well-organized??

It can also help your typography look more balanced by multiplying your typography sizes by 1.618.

Golden Ratio in?Layout

Let’s assume your width is 1062 pixels. Now divide it by 1.618. You will get 656.37 or roughly 656, which will be the height of the layout. Now, let’s divide this layout into two columns as shown in the image below.

Now let’s take a look at a website that uses this Golden Ratio Rule.

Both on the Apple and Coursera websites, when you apply the golden ratio, you’ll likely notice the spiral shape it creates, guiding your eyes from the big headline and CTA button to other elements.?

Have you noticed how most elements are well-organized, with white-space balanced among them? This golden ratio helps their customers to see important elements on the website and also creates an aesthetic look and virtual balance.

Golden Ratio In Organize and?Spacing

Similarly, the Golden Ratio also helps to organize the content or elements on your website and spacing to create a harmonious and balanced look. Let’s see the example below.

Thank you to Bregenzer Festspiele by Moody for a great poster design. As you can see, the logo is at the top right-hand side and the artwork is at the bottom left-hand side. When you draw the golden ratio on top of it, you will notice the distances or spacing between one element to another, like the logo at the top and the spacing between the artwork and the bottom, which creates a focal point and enough white space to establish virtual balance.

Other rules to live by such as rule of thirds or design?grid

Another way to crop an image using the golden ratio is to use the Rule of Thirds. While it may not be as precise as the golden ratio, it can get pretty close. The rule of thirds divides the image into a grid of vertical and horizontal lines in a 1:1:1 ratio. This helps align important elements of the image around the central rectangle, ideally at the four corners.? Let’s see an example below.

In both examples above, dedicated cropping of images using the rule of thirds and applying the golden ratio makes the website or photo look more interesting and creates a focal point, as we discussed earlier.?

You can apply this tactic to photos as well as your UI design to make them more interesting and, especially, guide the eye to important information.

Conclusion

Creating a successful website or application design involves solving user problems and providing effective solutions. This includes guiding users’ attention to the most important elements of your interface, ensuring they find what they need easily.?

The Golden Ratio, Rule of Thirds, and design grids offer valuable tools to arrange and organize content for a positive outcome. Implementing these principles can result in a visually balanced, aesthetically pleasing, and well-structured design. However, it’s crucial to understand each rule and use them intentionally, as misuse can potentially confuse or distract users. Ultimately, by carefully applying these design principles, you can create a user-friendly experience that resonates with your audience. Cheer…!

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