We find that our customers often struggle with the "optimum" layout for customer statements. How do you fit in all the information you need to convey to your customer in the most eye pleasing way? The article below sheds some light on this mystery exploring statement layout using the golden ratio.
Golden Layout for a Customer Statement
Why do some things look aesthetically better than others? Very often, it is the proportions that make it attractive.
In the early ages, Phidias, Plato and Euclid noticed that the ratio of 1:1.618 (known as Phi or ф) had 'magical' properties. They found that many things (such as snail-shells) tended to expand following roughly this ratio.
But of more importance to our discussion many crafts-persons found that this ratio worked wonders in architecture (like the Pyramids), painting, sculpture, etc. Most relevant to us, book-makers discover that this was the perfect shape for a page in a book. Photographers use this ratio extensively, referring to it as the 'rule of thirds.'
Our most striking example of the beauty of this ratio can be found in the 'A' paper-sizes, which are used around the world, except in those three mega-powers: the USA [1], Canada, and Tonga (we Canadians are ready to switch as soon as the Tongans say the word).
Although not a perfect PSI ratio (it's actually 1:1.41) A-size papers can be folded or cut in half to create the next level of the paper: A paper cut in two becomes A1, A1 becomes A2, A2 becomes A3, A3 becomes A4, etc. When you bind pages into a book and allow for the gutter, you end up with a printed space that follows the golden ratio.
Whether or not you print your statement of A4 paper or 'letter'-size paper, you should try to enforce the PSI ratio in design the logical page. Here are some key page objects that should follow this ratio:
This is the area in which type and the mast-head will appear. Usually, one would leave a ½ to 1 inch margin around the logical page (which is approximately x to y centimetres). Because paper sizes do not follow the exact ratio, you are left with wider margins. Most designers move the logical page slightly to the right and use the extra space (the gutter) for production barcodes (usually placed on the right side of the reverse page).
Most statements are tri-folded. The unfolded statement will have three very visible partitions. To exploit this, most good statement designers follow the photographer's rule of tree, dividing the document into a matrix of nine rectangles and then use the matrix to line up columns and tables.
For example, they use the top third of the first page to present virtually all key 'reference' and help information as well as the key corporate branding. The following two-thirds will contain the account summary information, usually in table format.
The vertical lines are used to position the major (used for tables) and minor (used for 'point-of-need' messages) columns on a page.
Designers try to use the golden ratio even in sub-components of the page. For example, a business graphic usually sits within a space with the golden ratio. The masthead will often have components or combinations of components in the golden ratio.
Art historians (including Tom Hanks) are quick to point out how Da Vinci employed the golden ratio numerous times within the Mona Lisa. They argue that the brain subliminally searches out these symmetrical shapes, delivering pleasurable responses as they are discovered. If this is true, then employing the ratio in statement design will have the same pleasurable effect on the client as the review your document.
[1] Ronald Reagan declared this the official US paper size as part of his Star Wars defense program (actually it was part of a forms standardization initiative during his administration).