iCloud Logo Infused With Golden Ratio

Thursday June 16, 2011 11:52 AM PDT by Jordan Golson
The Golden Ratio
Apple's logo artists have infused the iCloud logo with some mathematical elegance. In this case, the golden ratio or φ.

The circles in the 'puffs' of the iCloud are sized in a ratio of 1:1.6, an approximation of golden ratio, as discovered by Australian designer Alan van Roemburg. It seems unlikely the proportion was unintentional; Apple's artists simply have an acute sense of the history of design and mathematics.

The golden ratio has been around since at least Euclid and Pythagoras. Fans of the Da Vinci Code should know it too, as Dan Brown has referenced φ several times in his books. No wonder iCloud seems so elegant and aesthetically pleasing.

Hat tip to John Gruber

Update: The original source of the image appears to have been Takamasa Matsumoto.
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emaja
90 months ago
So, how long before Apple gets sued by these Euclid and Pythagoras guys - whoever they are - for using their proprietary ratios?

...and yes, this is a poor attempt at humor.
Rating: 9 Votes
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Hellhammer
90 months ago

I highly doubt this was intentional. They probably created a set of circles, copied and pasted them, rotated them, and there's your 'golden' ratio.

Giving them too much credit.


You would be surprised to see how widely the Golden Ratio is used.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmaVqkR0ZXg&feature=related
Rating: 5 Votes
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nagromme
90 months ago

Giving them too much credit. They don't care about the minor details that much.

Image (http://i.imgur.com/74B5Z.png3)


I agree with that -- but you'd also be surprised how widely the Golden Ratio is used, unintentionally :)


Exactly. The mystique of the Golden Ratio is fun, but reality is more boring :)

I know the iCloud post was just for fun, so I’m not slamming it. But as a matter of interest: the Golden Ratio has NOT been intentionally used by great artists through history. You can find something “close” to that ratio in any image if you look for it. It’s like finding faces in clouds (no pun).

You could pick ANY ratio, say, 11-to-17, and find something very close to it somewhere in just about any image.

In modern times, the ratio is better-known and some certainly do use it. Apple may have too... but it’s a little off (thanks, stewart) and given that it was designed on a computer, I think the golden ratio in the logo is nothing intentional.

Read Mario Livio’s book, The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi. And you won’t be disappointed: for every myth about The Golden Ratio that he dismantles on solid historical research, there’s some other thing you never knew about the number that’s even cooler, AND true. (Like the ways that numbers related to it appear in nature.)
Rating: 4 Votes
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Consultant
90 months ago

This is by far the Best MacRumors article ever!


Except that Alan (June 15) is not the one who discovered it (http://stam-design-stam.blogspot.com/2011/06/icloud.html) (on June 9). Alan seems to be intentionally shady too.

Explained in the second part of the article: http://obamapacman.com/2011/06/icloud-logo-designed-with-triple-golden-ratio/

After iCloud was announced, I found their icon to be eerily similar to the CloudApp that's been on the app store for quite awhile..the only difference is one additional circle on the left. getcloudapp.com/[/URL] hasn't anyone else noticed this?


MobileMe was established before getcloudapp.

It's like that MobileMe had the icon before this other company did.
Rating: 4 Votes
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Gav2k
90 months ago
Very apple like
Rating: 3 Votes
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Pink∆Floyd
90 months ago
Now who would've thought of that?
:apple:
Rating: 2 Votes
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luke.mac1
89 months ago
I can't believe I'm the first to post this...

I guess every iCloud has a golden lining...
(p.s. i know it's supposed to be silver lol)
Rating: 2 Votes
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stewart715
90 months ago

You would be surprised to see how widely the Golden Ratio is used.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmaVqkR0ZXg&feature=related


I agree with that -- but you'd also be surprised how widely the Golden Ratio is used, unintentionally :)
Rating: 2 Votes
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eschrad
90 months ago
1:1.6

Current screen resolutions are 1:1.6 as well... or 10:16

1050 x 1.6 = 1680
Rating: 2 Votes
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cheesymogul
90 months ago
LOL. As a graphic designer I must say, this is the most ridiculous article in a while!

Let me enlighten you a bit: True artists and seasoned graphic designers use the golden ratio all the time without even thinking - because you just feel that this proportion is well composed. Usually you are drawn to it almost like in auto pilot.

Therefore you can take any 10 good logos or designs, or even well composed photos, and you'll probably find in 7 out of them the golden ratio implemented somehow!

If Mr. van Roemburg thinks his "discovery" is unusual, I guess he must be fresh out of art school. Because only art school students during their first semesters measure it consciously with a ruler...

Apple's designers have not necessarily to be mathematical geniuses or fanboys of design history to use this proportion.
Being just a experienced professional with a decent sense for aesthetics is good enough.
Rating: 1 Votes
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