Aplicability of golden ratio rule in modern product design

Abstract

• This paper presents research regarding application of golden ratio rule in field of product design. The rule was applied to the design on vacuum cleaner, as it is a common and widely spread product. The aim of this paper is to research possibilities of applications of the rule in modern design. In order to determine consumer's subjective aesthetic judgment of products designed by directly applying golden ratio rule, one vacuum cleaner was designed in that manner. Results for consumer's subjective aesthetic preference were compared to results for other differently designed vacuum cleaner models present in the market today. Factors used were age, gender and level of education of participants (typical consumer). The results showed no statistical influence of age or gender factors. Statistically significant differences were noticed for level of education factor, between participants with high school diploma and university diploma. It was observed that product designed using golden ratio rule received higher marks regarding aesthetics in case of participants with university diploma. It can be concluded that golden ratio rule can be applied in field of product design, equally successful as in the other art fields where it is commonly used, but consumer demographics must be taken in to consideration, especially education level.