Most designers have been taught design rules without much of an explanation as to why these rules should be upheld. For those of us who don’t like “just because” as an answer, things might be changing. In recent years, there has been an increase in studying the science of design. What they’re finding is fascinating. For example, in a New York Times article, the author talks about the study of color. While I’ve had training in color theory, none of my teachers could justify the patterns with a satisfying explanation. We’ve known for ages that being exposed to shades of green can encourage creativity. But not until recently have we found that “workers who could see the outdoors completed tasks 6 to 7 percent more efficiently than those who couldn’t,” even if it was just a photograph of the outdoors. They theorize that humans “associate verdant colors with food-bearing vegetation — hues that promise nourishment.” Another interesting piece of the article talks about the famous “golden rectangle.” For thousands of years, people have known about the unique draw of these proportions but without knowing the reason. Everything from books, to photographs, to credit cards, to even the first iPod has been made in these 5-by-8 proportions. In 2009, “a Duke University professor demonstrated that our eyes can scan an image fastest when its shape is a golden rectangle. For instance, it’s the ideal layout of a paragraph of text, the one most conducive to reading and retention. This simple shape speeds up our ability to perceive the world, and without realizing it, we employ it wherever we can.” These findings (along with countless others) not only satiate my personal want to better explain design rules but will also allow designers to defend their choices with more validity. Art has so often been separate from science, but with these new studies, the overlap of the two subjects could allow us to create even more beautiful, and useful, things.