The Golden Ratio

There are examples of the Golden Ratio all around us – both man made and natural. Some examples are the nautilus shell, pinecones, the Parthenon, Notre-Dame Cathedral, and even the Apple iPod MP3 Player. The Golden Ratio is a ratio of elements within a form such as height and width that approximate 0.618.

In design, it can be used effectively in Website grid layouts, photography, and artwork. It should be noted however that you don’t need to seek out this measure in everything. It is good to use when other aspects of the design are not affected by them.

The Golden Ratio also goes by other names such as:

• Golden mean
• Golden number
• Divine proportion
• Golden proportion
• Sectio aurea