I have written in the past of my enjoyment of Terry O’Reilly’s podcasts “Under the Influence” and “Age of Persuasion”.
One Under the Influence podcast dealt with the shape of the packaging where he quoted:
“Fast Company Magazine cites University of Toronto research, where people were placed into brain imaging machines, then shown images of curved and linear products.
The results showed that men and women were far more likely to prefer the curved items, and activity was triggered in the part of the brain that is highly involved with “emotion.”
In another Harvard brain imaging study, people were shown sharp objects with corners, like square watches and pointy couches. Those images triggered activity in another section of the brain – the part that processes fear
Sharp objects have long signaled physical danger, so our brains have come to associate sharp lines with a threat.”
I find this fascinating since I enjoy a rectangle watch and so does my son. The round faces do not speak to us the same as the rectangles. But if you look there are very few rectangle watch faces to round faces.
I find all of this very fascinating.