A Demonstration of Potential Role of Golden Ratio in Product Design Applications

Abstract

The innovations in the field of product design can be directly associated with the optimization of various geometrical parameters. The motivation to improve the design dimensions, may come from the evolutionary process of life on Earth. The natural process of emergence of various biological species and their transition into the current form, has taken the millions of years of natural selection. For instance, the continuous struggle for survival has resulted in the optimal design of flying patterns of few birds [1]. Biomimicry is undoubtedly, one of the key methods of obtaining the best possible designs e.g., the aerodynamics of man-made vehicles can be improved using boxfish-based geometry [2]. Interestingly, there are some exceptional geometrical patterns and ratios which appear to be more adopted by nature, in comparison to the others. One of such geometrical ratios is Golden ratio (denoted by Φ = 1.618), which is derived as the ratio of any two consecutive numbers of Fibonacci series. Fibonacci series (1,1,2,3,5,8, 13….) is defined as the sequence of numbers, where each number is the sum of two preceding numbers. It is well-recognized observation that golden ratio (Φ) plays a crucial role in the structure of human heart [3], Circle of Willis [4], Spiral pattern of plant organs [5], and even in stance to swing ratio, which is an important walking parameter for maintaining stability during movement [6]. The occurrence of golden ratio in certain natural life forms, is a manifestation of its wide acceptance during the evolutionary process in organisms. The present research is thus motivated from the biological occurrences of geometrical patterns defined by golden ratio. Significance of this research rests on one of the basic principles of product design, called biomimicry. Moreover, as a consequence of few previous works, it can be directly emphasized that the golden ratio has a potential role to play in aesthetics as well as in functional aspects of products. Fig.1 illustrates some of the natural examples of existence of golden ratio in aesthetic designs.