Aesthetic Preference for Polygon Shape

Abstract

shapes can vary in how much they are preferred by observers, but the key factors are still not well understood. In Experiment 1, observers rated the attractiveness of octagonal polygons that varied in contour length but had approximate constant area. Thus, the shapes differed in compactness. Shapes with partial symmetry were judged to be more attractive as were those with greater total contour length. In a second experiment, participants judged polygons with different numbers of concavities but with constant contour length. Shapes with more concavities were considered more attractive. The data demonstrate a preference for greater complexity—both in terms of contour length and as changes in the number of concavities.

The Relationship of Symmetry, Complexity, and Shape in Mobile Interface Aesthetics, from an Emotional Perspective—A Case Study of the Smartwatch

“…Symmetry affects the perception of complexity. Some scholars have found that, compared with asymmetric shapes with the same number of sides, symmetric shapes have a lower complexity [32]. This may be attributed to the increase in information redundancy caused by the symmetry [23].…”

A cross-cultural comparison for preference for symmetry: Comparing British and Egyptians non-experts

“…Observers showed a preference for polygons with greater complexity in contour length and in the number of concavities (Friedenberg & Bertamini, 2015); a correlation between GIF ratio and edge length suggesting a preference for intermediate density over the number of elements in binary chequerboard patterns (Friedenberg & Liby, 2016); and image compression of the contours in nonsense shapes correlated with subjective human judgments for the same shapes whilst avoiding familiarity biases (Forsythe, Mulhern, & Sawey, 2008). Gauvrit et al (2017) reanalysed the data from the study carried out by Friedenberg & Liby (2016) using entropy (in this context, entropy refers to the density of black and white cells in a pattern) and algorithmic complexity (GIF ratio and Block Decomposition Method) and Edge length (the complexity of the edge created by the cells, thus related to the 'crookedness' of the pattern) as additional measures of complexity.…”

Predicting perceived visual complexity of abstract patterns using computational measures: The influence of mirror symmetry on complexity perception

“…Already Attneave [ 80 ] found that symmetric shapes are perceived as less complex than asymmetric shapes with the same number of sides. This can probably be attributed to the increase of redundancy caused by symmetry [ 81 , 82 ]. Furthermore, preference of symmetric patterns over scrambled images was explained by the reduction of complexity that goes along with a higher number of symmetry axes [ 83 ].…”

“…Furthermore, preference of symmetric patterns over scrambled images was explained by the reduction of complexity that goes along with a higher number of symmetry axes [ 83 ]. Thus, symmetry must be considered as an important aspect of visual complexity [ 40 , 56 , 81 , 84 – 86 ].…”