Where to Place Boxes
David Pascoe
Whether you are
intending to buy a box for yourself or give as a gift,
here are some things to consider.
Display boxes are intended
for both display and practical storage and so I design
and size my boxes for display first, and storage second,
mainly because no one wants to display an awkward
looking box.
Decorative boxes are practical
for storing important items that one does not want
to become lost in the typical jumble of draws full
of things. Placing something in a particular
box makes it easy to find because you always know
where it is.
Display boxes typically end
up on tables, shelves, desks, credenzas, dressers
and mantles. As we all know, any flat surface
has a lot of competition for things you want to put
on it. Therefore, particularly large boxes
are hard to place because they will take up a lot
space and often seem out of proportion to the setting.
Most
of my boxes are rectangular since that is the best
shape for normal placement, which is most often on
a shelf. Shelves generally are 10" wide,
sometimes less, rarely wider. Therefore I try
to keep the width 10" or under so that a box
placed on shelf is not hanging over the edge, which
doesn't look so good.
Rectangular boxes (as opposed
to square) also are best suited for placement on credenzas
and side tables where the shape of the box conforms
to the shape of the table since tables are rarely
ever square, or even close to it.
The
one exception is the coffee table in a living
or family room where a more square box may be more
suitable, for storing things like TV remote controls
and the like. Therefore, most of my larger boxes
have an 80% width ratio that makes them almost square
but not quite. They won't look as odd
sitting on a long coffee table as a square box would.
Additionally, I generally use
the golden mean, the ration of 1.6: 1, known as phi
in Greek, which is widely regarded throughout history
as the best proportions. Thus, I don't
make tall boxes simply because they don't look good
in most settings. Most of my boxes are
low and shallow because that is the most attractive
proportion, though I'm completely aware that constrains
what one may put in it and still get the top closed.
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