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Journals by EmailI started using rounded rectangles in some diagrams when I saw a flowchart that an interaction designer did. Later, my colleague Tom began using them in some quick reference guides, so I did the same in one guide and some release notes. I liked how they looked, but I don’t use them all the time, because there can be too much of a good thing.
It has made me wonder why rounded corners are appealing. There are plenty of sites explaining how to do rounded corners, specifically for websites and in InDesign, but not much discussion about why they have become popular.
(By the way, the W3C has specifications for rounded corners.)
Microsoft went with rounded corners in Windows XP. I notice that even my RealPlayer window has rounded corners. Adobe’s website used to have a scheme using rounded corners, but I think they may have picked that up when they assimilated the Macromedia site because I remember thinking that it looked similar. I never went to the Adobe site before that point, so I don’t know what it looked like before.
Do rounded corners somehow draw people to the content? Are they more inviting? I think they seem less harsh, more natural because right angles don’t visibly appear in nature. (I found information online saying that they do occur at the cellular level, but that’s not naturally visible to the human eye.) Maybe it’s because rounded corners don’t convey rigidity or strictness as hard corners do.
It would be interesting to do an experiment with two versions of a document such as a quick reference guide that are exactly the same except for something like a page border that has straight corners in one and rounded corners in the other. I wonder how different the impressions would be from separate subject groups using the different versions.
I don’t have a lot of explanation for the appeal. What are your thoughts? Do you love or hate rounded corners?
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1 Comment to 'Rounded Corner Psychology'
March 9, 2009
@Ben: Intriguing question! In fact, I’ve begun to use rounded rectangular spotlights in my own screenshots or “screencaps” (screen captures).
I’d say that rounded corners in websites and applications are the virtual extension of rounded corners in the material (technological) world, especially with sleeker cars, sleeker cellphones, and sleeker computers. So if technology looks “black”, then Windows players look “black”. If it turns “silver”, then Windows apps will look “silver”, haha. Similarly with sleeker button shapes and 3D drop shadows.
But if our technology ever returns to wood-grained veneers, I’d hate to see what future sites and apps will look like! ^_^