Face-ism Ratio

The Face-ism Ratio states that the ratio of the face to the body in an image influences the way the person in the image is perceived. Basically, close-up images of people's faces focus attention on personality and intelligence, while full or partial body shots emphasize physical or sensual attributes.

"Face-ism" as a term comes from research into gender-bias in the media done in the late 1970s. It was found that images of men in magazines, movies and other media have significantly higher emphasis on their faces as opposed to images of women. Dane Archer, Debra Kimes and Michael Barrios published "Face-ism: Five Studies of Sex-Differences in Facial Prominence" in 1978. This almost unconscious bias regarding the physical characteristics of men and women appears almost across the board in media--even in different cultures.

How do you compute the face-ism ratio? In a photograph, you divide the distance from the top of the heard to the bottom of the chin (head height) by the distance from the top of the head to the lowest part of the body that is visible (total visible height). An image without a face would have a ratio of 0.00, while an image with only a face would have a ratio of 1.00.

When you design, keep in mind the proportion of faces in your photographs, as they subtly convey emphasis on intellectual or physical characteristics. Careful cropping and use of faces in images can enhance (or detract from) your desired message.