Image and text from Wikipedia:
ISO 216 specifies international standard (ISO) paper sizes used in most countries in the world today. It is the standard which defines the commonly available A4 paper size. The underlying principle is that when folded in half length-wise the paper retains its original aspect ratio: 1:√2
I think 1:√2 is a lovely ratio, don’t you? Now someone please tell me why we don’t use the ISO 216 system in America. Go on, then.
I wish I had written this post. US paper doesn’t even have a standard ratio!
Back when I was a freshman in college, I tried using A4 for all my papers and work. I thought I was the shit. (I was some sort of shit - a pretentious one.)
Later on, I got into a huge fight with my similarly design-minded roommate about the merits of standard paper sizes vs. letter- and tabloid-sized paper. Yeah, we were cool.
I still love these standard sizes, but they’ll never get traction in the states. Office supply wouldn’t switch, even though they supply A4 to the rest of the world, and our entire printer setup is for US measurements. And people are familiar and comfortable with the letter size.
It’s like temperature. Celsius makes a lot of sense, but people get weirded out by it. Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s -7 here and I’m fucking cold.
25 notes · Reblogged from jasonpermenter
