SCALE & PROPORTION

Out of Scale CartoonDonald Duck and Chip n Dale

Scale• Scale deals with the

absolute size, character and visual weight of an object or space compared to other objects in the same space. • To achieve good scale, choose

objects that are appropriate for human dimensions and the proper size for the space they occupy.• Adult in a child's chair

• Make sure the following are in scale with the size of the room:• Size and amount of Furniture

and accessories• Size of patterns• Colors

Grand scale room, features, and furniture

Small scale room, features, and furniture

Proportion Large Furniture and features are proportional to the large scale room

Small Furniture and items are proportional to the small scale room

• Proportion is relative, describing the ratio of one part to another part or to the whole, or the ratio of one object to another.• The most effective

proportions have an uneven ratio of 2:3, 3:5, or 5:8.

• Square (2x2) is the least pleasing shape. Rectangles (3x2, etc) are pleasing

An item or arrangement may be in proportion to itself, but

furniture and accessories must be in scale to the room

SCALE & PROPORTION

Too Big, Too Small, or Just Right

• This chairs large scale diminishes everything around it.

• The chairs light palate accentuates its skinny, small scale.

• This club chair matches the scale of the sofa.

Too Big.

• Coffee table is over-scaled for the sofa.

Just Right.

• The table is substantial enough to anchor the furniture grouping, yet it leaves room for traffic flow around both ends.

Too Small.

• Table not only looks out of proportion, it functions poorly as well.

Too Big.

• The large-scale motif and strong colors of this floral wallpaper overpower the petite powder room as well as the fixtures and furniture in it.

Too Small.

• The pattern is so small and pale that it almost disappears.

Just Right.

• The narrow contrasting stripes provide the ideal balance for the clean-lined pedestal sink and oversize pine mirror.

Too Big.

• This rug covers too much of the floor beyond the conversation area to define it as a discrete space.

Too Small.

• Instead of creating intimacy, the rug only increases the appearance of isolation.

Just Right.

• Choose an area rug that’s about as long and wide as the furnishings in the space.

Too Little.

• Too much space between objects makes the candlesticks and the too-small frame look lonely, the bare wall yawning above.

Too Much.

• There’s no time to pause to consider any single object, since they are all stepping on one another’s toes in a jostle for space.

Just Right.

• The weight now shifted to the left side, fewer items are needed there for balance.

Too Big.

• There’s no breathing room in this are-to-sofa match.

Just Right.

• To size a single picture, choose one that’s nearly the same height as the sofa and between half and two-thirds its width.

Too Little.

• This picture is tall enough, roughly matching the height of the sofa. But it ends up looking leggy and lost because it’s too skinny in proportion to the sofa’s width.

Proportion and Scale AssignmentsASSIGNMENT 1 – Unrealistic Scale and Proportion1. Using magazine cutouts of people, furniture, and other objects, create two collages; one illustrating UNREALISTIC proportion, and one illustrating UNREALISTIC scale. 2. Each collage will be graded on neatness as well as correctness. Mount each collage on a separate sheet of black paper. 3. Each collage should be labeled according to the principle it illustrates.

(pg. 60= unrealistic scale pg. and 61= unrealistic proportion)

Do this for the next 15-20 min, then we’ll talk about the Golden Mean.

Unrealistic Scale: The room is not to human scale, it is much too large. Also the Lamp is much larger than the scale of the room.

Unrealistic Proportion:The parts of the faces are out of proportion.

EXAMPLES:

The Golden Mean

3 2

3

2

• The Golden Mean – The most proportionately pleasing division of a line or form between 1/2 and 1/3.

• The like is dividing the form so that the smaller portion has the same ratio to the larger as the larger has to the whole (example: 2/3=.6 and 3/5=.6)

• This creates a series of ratios that progress by the sum of the two previous numbers (2:3, 3:5, 5:8, 8:13, 13:21).

• It can also be multiples of those ratios (2:3 or 4:6 or 6:9, etc).

• Square (2:2) is the least pleasing shape or ratio. Rectangles are more pleasing, especially with a ratio of 2:3.

• Devised by the Greeks.

3

2

5

The Golden Mean or Ratio

5

3

The Golden Mean is found everywhere in good interiors and is often found in nature.

Where do you see the golden mean?

Where do you see the golden mean?

Where do you see the golden mean?

Computing Scale & ProportionA rectangle with proportions of 2 to 3 is ideal. All the

drawings below show items that are in the ideal proportion of 2 to 3. One dimension is missing for each drawing.

4’

How to find the missing

measurement:

2/3=X/6 …6(2/3=X/6) …

12/3=X …4=X

Computing Scale & Proportion

24’

Computing Scale & Proportion

9’

18’

Proportion and Scale AssignmentsAssignment 2- Golden RatioUse the golden mean ratios to answer fill in the missing measurements on the worksheet.(put worksheet on Pg.63 in your notebook)

Assignment 3 – Good Scale and Proportion & use of Golden MeanFind an appropriate picture of scale and proportion and describe how the designer used these principles to create a pleasing design. Find the golden mean somewhere in the picture and mark where it is. (pg. 62 in notebook)

Work on this for the rest of class