The Golden Ratio: Aston Martin
The golden ratio is a mathematical quantification of what humans perceive to be beautiful. It follows Fibonacci's sequence (F(n) = F(n-1) + F(n-2)...) and is otherwise denoted as 1 to 1.618. Essentially if the ratio of the sizes between two measurements is 1 to 1.618 then the human brain will most likely perceive their relationship as matching/proportional/beautiful. Most designers try to work the golden ratio into their design and one of prominent example of doing so is British car maker Aston Martin. Most car enthusiasts are in agreement that Aston makes the most visually pleasing vehicle designs and the reason why is because they use the golden ratio to govern pretty much all of their proportions.
This is an image of the Aston Martin Rapide, the first four door car that Aston Martin brought out in decades. The image shows how the designer employed the golden ratio to all relevant proportions. Special notice should be put on the proportions between the front and rear doors. They are in a golden ratio as well which was a controversial decision as the smaller door in the rear made it harder to get in an out of. the lack of comfort of getting in and out of the car threatened sales in the market that car was supposed to sell in however, in the end the lucrative sales proved that to certain degree a product's function can follow form and still be a success.
After spending some time thinking about the golden ratio and its application and finding golden ratios in cars similar to my own car (image on the right) I found an article that actually tied Aston martin and the golden ratio into one, on Forbes. They talked about how they chose Aston Martin's for Bond to drive around in because of their simple elegance achieved by the use of the golden ratio. The advertisers also payed a lot of attention to employing the golden ratio when creating commercials and posters for the movie (image on the left).