A mathematical explanation of how art works, presented in a manner anyone can understand. Kimberly Elam takes the reader on a geometrical journey, lending insight and coherence to the design process by exploring the visual relationships that have foundations in mathematics as well as the essential qualities of life. She takes a close look at a broad range of twentieth-century examples of design, architecture, and illustration, revealing underlying geometric structures in their compositions. The book focuses not only on the classic systems of proportioning, such as the golden section and root rectangles, but also on less well known proportioning systems such as the Fibonacci series. Through detailed diagrams these geometric systems are brought to life, giving an effective insight into the design process.--From publisher description.