Universal Principles of Design, Updated and Expanded Third Edition

037 Contour Bias

A tendency to favor things with contoured features over angular or rectilinear features.

When presented with objects or environments that possess sharp angles or pointed features, a region of the human brain involved in fear processing, the amygdala, is activated. The degree of fear activation in the brain is proportionate to the angularity and sharpness of the features. Likely a subconscious mechanism that evolved to detect potential threats, this fear response suggests that angular features influence the way objects are aesthetically and emotionally perceived.1

The contour bias is robust with things that have either a neutral or positive valence but not with things that have a negative valence. An example of things with a ...