Curved vs Angular Forms
Sharp and round edges. According to the book “Universal Principles of Design”, humans have a bias to objects that are contoured or round compared to objects that are sharp or have points. This is because sharp points or features activate a part of our brain associated with fear. This bias likely evolved as a way to detect threats - think thorns on a thorn tree or stings on a puffer fish. All things being equal, people prefer curved and rounded objects to sharp and angular objects. The advantage of sharp objects is that they are better at grabbing and holding our attention. Also interestingly, the sharper an object the more it activates our fear response and the less we want to utilise it, they are proportionate to each other. We can utilise these ideas in our designs and buildings. If we want to grab attention - use sharp angular forms, if we want to seem inviting and kind use rounded forms. To finish off - think about your home, does it feature any curved forms? And if its about making you feel relaxed and comfortable, why not?
