Generally, we think of the number two when we read or hear the word "pair"; a pair of shoes, a pair of earrings, a pair of cloves. In fact, this is also not so strange, since the definition of pair includes the number two.
- two corresponding things designed for use together; a pair of shoes - two corresponding bodily parts or members; a pair of hands
- something made up of two corresponding pieces a pair of trousers
- two similar or associated things such as
- two mated animals
- a couple in love, engaged, or married were a devoted pair
- two playing cards of the same value or denomination and especially of the same rank
- two horses harnessed side by side
- two members of a deliberative body that agree not to vote on a specific issue during a time agreed on; also an agreement not to vote made by the two members
- a partnership especially of two players in a contest against another partnership
- chiefly dialectal: a set or series of small objects (such as beads)
Even numbers provide symmetry; provide a sense of order! This can be perceived as good!
Interestingly, in the design world, a pair is not at all a good number; It is almost an enemy. Even numbers are apparently not what the human mind finds aesthetic; odd numbers are the name of the game with the number 3 the magic number.
Despite what any of your playground foes may have told you in grade school, being odd is actually a good thing. Odd numbers – and the number three, specifically – have long been heralded by designers and stylists as magical numbers that should be applied to interiors and vignettes to make them look even better. But better how?
Odd Numbers Create Visual Interest
Even numbers create symmetry, but odd numbers create interest. An odd number of details is more effective at capturing your gaze. Odd numbers force your eyes to move around the grouping–and by extension, the room. That forced movement is the heart of visual interest. It's for that reason that a set of three is more appealing and memorable than something paired off in two's.
For some reason, I have something with numbers. This week when viewing my stats on my profile page, it flashed through my mind: "I see all pairs; How interesting!".
Combining all digits in my followers, following and posts numbers, together consisting of 10 digits, form 5 pairs; The numbers 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 as you can see in the image below.
I would have loved when these numbers would also have some mathematical meaning, like all Prime numbers or even better, all Mersenne Prime numbers. But unfortunately I was not able to discover that. When interested, you can read about Prime and Mersenne Prime numbers here.
All numbers form together the perfect series of consecutive numbers in our decimal system; With the screaming absence of the number 2.
Did my brains register this because of the absence of the number 2? Does my brain want to be more the 'designer' rather than 'analytical', 'mathematical' and 'logical'? Is the number 2 evil?
Please Leave a Comment with Your Thoughts if You Will
follow me @edje
