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Curves and Symmetry

Discussion Post I submitted for my Atlantic University TP5110 Course – September 2

According to Bunny Paine-Clemes, the Sioux Indians preferred round corners for buildings and believed that square corners captured “evil spirits” (2015, p. 216). When I first began offering graphic design services for clients, I found my work very “boxy” and maybe filled with dark energy! I worked with several illustrators who created logos for me. I appreciated their ability to add even a semi-circle or rounding an edge as it was much more aesthetically pleasing. Paine-Clemes identifies circles and curves as a blueprint and adds that in “nature this pattern occurs often,” such as with hurricanes and whirlpools (2015, p. 213).

For some reason, I had a mental block for visualizing non-linear designs. I knew it added a great deal of depth even if I couldn’t create it myself. I attribute this to a left-centered, logical, and masculine mind. Fashion models and car designers, for example, earn their keep integrating symmetry and curves.  I’m thankful these days as I move into website designing that I can import templates with established lines and curves, which I don’t dare touch other than changing the text and images so that I don’t mess it up!

There is undoubtedly a place for boxes and rectangles in a layout, and part of its attractiveness is due to the blueprint of symmetry, as Paine-Clemes describes (2015, p. 217). Symmetry is something I can create, and I use it regularly in my web designs. A simple example is a heading with two sections. In the first, the image is on the left, and the text is on the right. The section below is the exact dimensions and margins, yet the image is on the right, and the text is on the left. Paine-Clemes, notes that Leonardo Devinci’s Vitruvian Man was sent into space “to represent humanity to alien beings” (2015, p. 219).  She quotes Virtruvius, who explains how the human body is perfectly symmetrical so that if you folded a person in half along the vertical axis, the two halves would fit precisely on top of each other (2015, p. 219). So it’s clear that our Creator likes symmetry as well!

However, too much symmetry is boring, and again, it’s where curves and alternations can mix things up a bit. It’s similar to the remarkable story of Mozart in Amadeus, which Paine Clemes retells, where Mozart plays variations of Salieri’s entrance song. She adds, the “second-rate artist never sees the variations, never devises the original combination that lifts his compositions from the realm of the ordinary” (2015, p. 277). So the big three of beauty, good, and truth, as Paine-Clemes describes it, is a combination of the masculine and feminine, lines and curves, yin & yang, and symmetry and variations, among others (2015, p. 257). And that seems to be what’s at the heart of creativity and aesthetics.

References 

Paine-Clemes, B. (2015), Creative synergy: using art, science, and philosophy to self-actualize your life,” Virginia Beach, VA: 4th Dimension Press