math and us printing standards, etc
First of all, let me just say that i was never any good at math. But lately i've been playing around with the golden mean, i.e., the "divine proportion" (which is the most delicious name for a math equation that you'll ever find).
Basically, it is a proportion of 1.618033988749895(...) of one line to another. So if line A is X length, then line B is X divided by that long number, and line C would be B length divided by that number, and so on and so on, ad infinitum. I'm sure someone could explain it better than i but hopefully you get the idea.
Now there are "experts" who will say that this proportion was used everywhere from the shape of the pyramids to the shape of the Parthenon, to the shape of the chambered nautilus shell, to the painting of The Last Supper, to the rise and fall of the stock market, but I think if you stare at anything long enough, you can find a rationalization for it.
All of this nonsense got me to thinking about the US standard for a letter-sized page. 8.5" x 11". If my math is correct (and it may certainly not be), a better shape more in harmony with nature would be 6.798" x 11". That is keeping the 11" height sacred. Or, it could become 8.5" x 13.75", keeping the narrow edge sacred. The latter seems to come out more exact from an inch ruler standpoint.
Surely this proportion would improve the content that is communicated through the printed or written page, right? And it would be a boon to the printing, paper and copier industry that would have to update all their equipment and sell more product. Are we on to something, here?
The obvious glitch in my theory is that the market for the printed word is diminishing. Communication is done mostly electronically nowadays (you're reading this off a screen, no?), and on-screen graphics don't need the same physical boundaries.
This makes me sad and bitter, and makes me wonder about the future generation who never learned to write anything down (or even write). But that is a topic for another day.
Basically, it is a proportion of 1.618033988749895(...) of one line to another. So if line A is X length, then line B is X divided by that long number, and line C would be B length divided by that number, and so on and so on, ad infinitum. I'm sure someone could explain it better than i but hopefully you get the idea.
Now there are "experts" who will say that this proportion was used everywhere from the shape of the pyramids to the shape of the Parthenon, to the shape of the chambered nautilus shell, to the painting of The Last Supper, to the rise and fall of the stock market, but I think if you stare at anything long enough, you can find a rationalization for it.
All of this nonsense got me to thinking about the US standard for a letter-sized page. 8.5" x 11". If my math is correct (and it may certainly not be), a better shape more in harmony with nature would be 6.798" x 11". That is keeping the 11" height sacred. Or, it could become 8.5" x 13.75", keeping the narrow edge sacred. The latter seems to come out more exact from an inch ruler standpoint.
Surely this proportion would improve the content that is communicated through the printed or written page, right? And it would be a boon to the printing, paper and copier industry that would have to update all their equipment and sell more product. Are we on to something, here?
The obvious glitch in my theory is that the market for the printed word is diminishing. Communication is done mostly electronically nowadays (you're reading this off a screen, no?), and on-screen graphics don't need the same physical boundaries.
This makes me sad and bitter, and makes me wonder about the future generation who never learned to write anything down (or even write). But that is a topic for another day.
posted by FKid at 10:21 AM
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