Symmetric or Asymmetric which do you prefer?

Fred.Rowe

Fred.Rowe

Joined
May 2, 2004
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Does the human eye find symmetry more appealing than objects that are asymmetric?

I just finished a large dagger which required ever proportion to be symmetric including the sheath.

When it came to making a sheath for this asymmetric blade I followed with an asymmetric stamping pattern on the sheath.
What do you prefer?

Fred
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Humans (and most living things) find symmetry more appealing as a general rule. Studies have been done showing this is hard wired into even the most rudimentary "brains". Even insects with their tiny ganglia respond to symmetry.

- Greg
 
Greg, I disagree to an extent. Guild admissions tests and the like place a lot of emphasis on symmetry, but I think that has more to do with seeing if the applicant can keep their grinds straight and their plunges even, than it does with pure functionality or beauty. Perfectly symmetrical knife handles feel like a broom-stick in hand, you can't tell which way the blade is facing. The very best knife handles are built specifically for the user's dominant hand, and you can tell as soon as you pick one up if it was made for a righty or a lefty, and exactly where the edge is. (often referred to as "indexing") Why else would stag crowns be so popular as handles? Not just because they're pretty, because they're shaped so that when you grab one, it leads your hand into using the knife.

While symmetry is hugely important when grinding most blades (a functional object that's meant to cut cleanly) or when leading rats down a path (an exercise in providing the quickest route), and overall symmetry is often pleasing to the eye, slight asymmetry is generally preferable when it comes to pure aesthetic appeal.

A perfectly square house with its door perfectly centered looks clunky and unnatural; so do two perfectly aligned pins on a typical knife handle. Raising one or both pins slightly above the centerline and/or spacing them just a bit off-center lengthwise adds visual interest without disrupting the flow of the piece.

Ever see one of those pics where they split a beautiful woman's face right down the middle and mirror either of the two halves? It looks downright creepy.

I think it comes back to the fact that nothing in nature is perfectly symmetrical or even straight. Even a color-blind child can find a lost arrow (straight) in a bush (wiggly) if you ask them to look for something that's out-of-place. It sticks out like a sore thumb.

Fred, in the case of that sheath, I think it's gorgeous. The "flow" is smooth and leads the eye up and down the object. There's plenty of interesting detail without it being too busy and distracting.
 
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wnease said:
informal balance v formal balance...
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You took the words right out of my mouth. Symmetry is just one form of balance. In a dagger symmetry has function. In a dagger SHEATH symmetry doesn't really aid with anything so in my version of reality it could be asymmetrical (but balanced) or symmetrical. In the words of the late Ricky Nelson, "It's up to you".

- Paul Meske, Wisconsin
 
Fred, I like asymmetry better myself. But you need some symmetry in there to anchor the whole thing and make the asymmetry work. Or else it is just chaos. Does this even makes sense to anyone else but me? :confused::o
 
Symmetry is safe and often beautiful. Asymmetry provides more risk, but potentially more reward. Do you invest in stocks, or mutual bonds? Do you like Picasso's Cubism?

Fred, I think that sheath is beautiful. I wouldn't call it asymmetrical, It's more intersecting to me.

EA
 
I like assymetry a lot. Even on pinouts. I've been adding odd pins lately, sometimes completely randomly placed on the tang. I find them to be really pretty, kind of like Sophia Lauren's mole.
 
Fiddleback said:
I like assymetry a lot. Even on pinouts. I've been adding odd pins lately, sometimes completely randomly placed on the tang. I find them to be really pretty, kind of like Sophia Lauren's mole.
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Well said; the mole is a nice point of focus, from there your eye can branch out to the other lovely contours.
 
Symmetry is "static" and asymmetry is "active".

Symmetry is boring… stationary, unchanging, constant, inactive, stagnant, passive and stopped. The same could be said for "perfection".

Asymmetry is psychologically more dynamic.

Outside of an occational dagger, I leave symmetry alone...
 
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At one point I worked at a pizza place that prided itself on being handmade, and was talking to one of the owners one day about some sort of pizza cutting device to get perfect slices. He told me that, through extensive market research, they had found that customers preferred irregularly sized slices. Perfectly symmetrical and exact pizza slices gave customers the impression that the pie was factory made, and they felt that irregular sizes tasted more hand made, and thus better.
 
I guess I should add a few more things here to clarify my last statement, ("Outside of an occational dagger, I leave symmetry alone...") which was really aimed at the overall “profile” of a knife.

Using both active (asymmetrical) and passive (symmetrical) design elements usually works best for me, though the overall designs are most often asymmetrical. Symmetry works in some places and on some occasions. If balance, passiveness and/or perfection are what you are trying to express, then symmetry is the way to go.

Look into the “Psychology of form”. It’s nothing new.

Also, there are different kinds of symmetry,… unilateral, bilateral, quadrilateral etc., or symmetrical from any angle or view like a sphere. Because of their nature, most knives involve one or more types of symmetry.
 
Here’s one I’m working on that’s a pretty good example of what I’m talking about. The handle, ferrule and end piece (not seen in pic) are round in cross section, quadrilaterally symmetrical and passive (feminine). If you look at the blade from the back side or the edge side it’s symmetrical, but the profile is asymmetrical and active (masculine),... however, the form to me suggests the feminine. The marriage of the masculine and feminine, a common theme in my designs.

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For me,… design usually boils down to math and psychology. The “psychology of mathematics and form“.

If you look at the “guardish” cut out detail on the top side of the blade in context with the overall knife, it can represent the shoulder, underarm, breast and hip of a woman,… but if you isolate that detail, it can represent a penis entering/withdrawing from a “notch”. Same with the handle only opposite,… it’s passive and symmetrical, yet the handle form is essentially phallic.

It’s about creation and procreation.

... The yin/yang as a knife in archetypical symbols.
 
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I think that a combination of both is best. Axial symmetry butt to tip can be appealing, but it can also be constraining and impractical. for instance handles without axial symmetry are not as comfortable as handles shaped to fit the hand, rather than a set of rules. However it is very rare to not see symmetry in the plain of the blade, as this is both visually attractive, and highly functional
 
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