Omne Trium Perfectum / Sets of Three are Perfect
A Pecha Kucha slide night at UX Brisbane.
Just a little idea I wanted to ventilate.
Maybe better as a video/doco.....
1. OMNE TRIUM PERFECTUM
all sets of 3 are perfect
‘THREE’ pervades sport,
religion, movies, stories,
science, design......and most
areas of human activity......
2. strong/stable
Triangles are the strongest, most
stable shape on earth.
If you want something to be
strong - use a triangle.
TRIANGLES cannot change their
shape – don’t wobble.
Things that use THREE
like tripods, stools, truss
structures
- are efficient and stable.
Even plaits require three strands
to make them work.
3. everywhere
we live in a 3d world
thoughts words and deeds
traffic lights
earth wind and fire
birth life death
work rest and play
stop look listen
mother father child
youth, middle age and old age
waking, sleeping, dreaming
rock paper scissors
homer simpson’s fingers
4. small medium large
too big, too small, just right
Morning, afternoon, evening
hours minutes seconds
positive negative neutral
Sun moon earth
past, present and future
breakfast lunch and dinner,
learn from yesterday
live for today
hope for tomorrow
more….
5. love
5
mother father child
me you them
Three types of love
platonic
romantic
familial
B.A.D. news if you mix them up
And don’t forget
Me – myself - I
relationships
6. education
6
..is essentially
Curriculum, pedagogy and assessment
‘three’ makes things easy to learn
abc xyz 123 3 rrrs
reading writing ‘rithmatic
primary secondary tertiary
subject, predicate, verb
You get an A B or C on the Bell curve
Essays require
introduction, body, and conclusion
7. maths and science
7
3 is the first prime number
atoms are made from
proton, neutron and electron
we need to eat
carbohydrates, protein and fat
Everything is
animal mineral or vegetable
solid, liquid, gas
In Physics we have
The three laws of
thermodynamics
& newtons three laws of motion
And don’t forget about
Pythagoras
8. business/work
in real estate
location, location, location
A good definition of ‘service’
timeliness, completeness and courtesy
As consumers we weigh up
price, quality and convenience
Marketing slogans slip slop slap
A good job has three attributes
complexity, authority and reward
Successful logos often
use the idea of 3
9. sport
9
on your marks, get set, go
first second third
faster higher stronger
gold silver bronze
Three bases in baseball
Three strikes and you are
out
aussie aussie aussie
oi oi oi
10. religion
holy, holy, holy
the father the son and the
holy ghost
the three wise men
gold, frankinsence and
myhrr
the kingdom, the power,
and the glory
the great triad of Taoism is
human, heaven, earth.
Buddhism has the 3 jewels.
the three crosses
11. rhetoric + USA says
life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness
Government
of the people
by the people
for the people
Liberty, equality and
fraternity is the basis
of the French nation
Hitler slogan
one people, one
empire, one leader
Its all about
1.the message,
2. The audience
& 3. how you say it
12. 3 is used persuasively
in political messaging
Friends romans countrymen
blood sweat and tears
Veni Vidi Vici
I came, I saw, I conquered
Good political speeches need 3 things
What is now, what could be, and how
can we get there
Now we have three word slogans
Stop the boats,
no mining tax
ditch the witch
13. stories
13
3 flows through our stories
Three witches in Macbeth
Goldilocks
and the three bears
too hot, too cold, just right.
Cinderella
and the 3 ugly sisters.
Many fairy tales involve
three wishes for e.g.
Alladin
Three coins in a fountain
three amigos
three musketeers
the three pigs
the three fates
the three stooges
the three blind mice
the three monkeys
etc etc etc
14. humour The idea in stories and
jokes is to do three things
create tension
develop it
then release it.
Did you her the one about
the Jew, the nun, and the
redneck …..?
Set up a topic – establish
pattern – disrupt the
pattern
Corny example –
A Las Vegas wedding –
flowers, rings - and a
divorce document
15. The basics - do re mi
Triple repiition of words
love love love
no no no
Amy Winehouse
You can play plenty of
songs just using three
chords
music
16. Right now, on this screen you all
seeing only three colours
red, green blue - R G B
your 2 eyes plus one brain make
sense of it all
Photography
it is basically 3 things
light, composition and moment
Also, in photogaphy,
the Rule of Three is often used
to compose a good shot.
colour+photography
17. Lights, camera – action
Aristotle said – beginning, middle and end
Most movies now are written into
Three Acts
Set up, conflict, resolution
3 point editing is used in post production
The Godfather Trilogy
The good the bad and the ugly
3 rules of box office success now are:
The Destruction of Material objects
The Removal of clothing
The rebellion against authority
Movies/tv
18. design
has used
the idea of THREE for years.
Vitruvius said 2000 years ago
good design is
Commodity, firmness and delight
it does what is says,
it doesn’t break,
it looks and feels great
Steve Jobs
thinner, lighter, and faster
We like things when they have
these 3 things
1. Its well crafted
2. It does or says something well
3. It feels fresh and distinctive
19. T.S ELIOT
… the shadow of
indifference, inertia,
apathy and complacency.
3 may help us when we
feel unstable and weak
Remember the journey
- not just the starting point
and the destination.
OMNE TRIUM
PERFECTUM
all sets of 3 are
perfect ……?
GOD
SEX
ART
YOU
HER
HIM
EYE
EAR
SEE
HOW
WHO
WHY
THE
AND
FOR
ARE
GET
BUT
DAD
MUM
DAY
SUN
WED
H2O
20. BUT BEWARE! There are exceptions …….
three’s a crowd
three wheel car
three legged race
jealousy
The unconscious mind
naturally seems to
prefer twos
mother and child,
one on one, lovers,
you and me
but maybe the
conscious real world
prefers the extra
stability of three.
OMNE TRIUM PERFECTUM
all sets of 3 are perfect
‘THREE’ pervades sport, religion, movies, stories, science, design......and most areas of human activity......
Triangles are the strongest, most stable shape on earth.
If you want something to be strong - use a triangle.
TRIANGLES cannot change their shape – don’t wobble.
Thingås that use THREE
like tripods, stools, truss structures
- are efficient and stable.
Even plaits require three strands to make them work.
we live in a 3d world
thoughts words and deeds
traffic lights
earth wind and fire
birth life death
work rest and play
stop look listen
mother father child
youth, middle age and old age
waking, sleeping, dreaming
rock paper scissors
homer simpson’s fingers
small medium large
too big, too small, just right
Morning, afternoon, evening
hours minutes seconds
positive negative neutral
Sun moon earth
past, present and future
breakfast lunch and dinner,
learn from yesterday
live for today
hope for tomorrow
mother father child
me you them
Three types of love
platonic
romantic
familial
B.A.D. news if you mix them up
And don’t forget
Me – myself - I
..is essentially
Curriculum, pedagogy and assessment
‘three’ makes things easy to learn
abc xyz 123 3 rrrs
reading writing ‘rithmatic
primary secondary tertiary
subject, predicate, verb
You get an A B or C on the Bell curve
Essays require
introduction, body, and conclusion
3 is the first prime number
atoms are made from
proton, neutron and electron
we need to eat
carbohydrates, protein and fat
Everything is
animal mineral or vegetable
solid, liquid, gas
In Physics we have
The three laws of thermodynamics
& newtons three laws of motion
And don’t forget about Pythagoras
BUSINESS and Work
It is ingrained in our work
in real estate
location, location, location
A good definition of ‘service’
timeliness, completeness and courtesy
As consumers we weigh up
price, quality and convenience
Marketing slogans slip slop slap
A good job has three attributes complexity, authority and reward
Successful logos often
use the idea of 3
sport
on your marks, get set, go
first second third
faster higher stronger
gold silver bronze
Three bases in baseball
Three strikes and you are out
aussie aussie aussie
oi oi oi
religion
holy, holy, holy
the father the son and the holy ghost
the three wise men
gold, frankinsence and myhrr
the kingdom, the power,
and the glory
the great triad of Taoism is human, heaven, earth.
Buddhism has the 3 jewels.
the three crosses
Rhetoric
USA says
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
Government
of the people
by the people
for the people
Liberty, equality and fraternity is the basis of the French nation
Hitler slogan
one people, one empire, one leader
Its all about
1.the message,
2. The audience
& 3. how you say it
Politics 2
3 is used persuasively
in political messaging
Friends romans countrymen
blood sweat and tears
Veni Vidi Vici
I came, I saw, I conquered
Good political speeches need 3 things
What is now, what could be, and how can we get there
Now we have three word slogans
Stop the boats,
no mining tax
ditch the witch
3 flows through our stories
Three witches in Macbeth
Goldilocks
and the three bears
too hot, too cold, just right.
Cinderella
and the 3 ugly sisters.
Many fairy tales involve three wishes for e.g. Alladin
Three coins in a fountain
three amigos
three musketeers
the three pigs
the three fates
the three stooges
the three blind mice
the three monkeys
etc etc etc
Jokes and Humour The idea in stories and jokes is to do three things
create tension
develop it
then release it.
Did you her the one about the Jew, the nun, and the redneck …..?
Set up a topic – establish pattern – disrupt the pattern
Corny example –
A Las Vegas wedding – flowers, rings - and a divorce document
Music
No no no
The basics - do re mi
Triple repiition of words
love love love
no no no
Amy Winehouse
You can play plenty of songs just using three ch
Photography
Right now, on this screen you all seeing only three colours
red, green blue - R G B
your 2 eyes plus one brain make sense of it all
Photography
it is basically 3 things
light, composition and moment
Also, in photogaphy,
the Rule of Three is often used to compose a good shot.
MOVIES
Lights, camera – action
Aristotle said – beginning, middle and end
Most movies now are written into
Three Acts
Set up, conflict, resolution
3 point editing is used in post production
The Godfather Trilogy
The good the bad and the ugly
3 rules of box office success now are:
The Destruction of Material objects
The Removal of clothing
The rebellion against authority
Design
has used the idea of THREE for years.
Vitruvius said 2000 years ago
good design is
Commodity, firmness and delight
it does what is says,
it doesn’t break,
it looks and feels great
Steve Jobs
thinner, lighter, and faster
We like things when they have
these 3 things
1. Its well crafted
2. It does or says something well
3. It feels fresh and distinctive
Courage
T.S ELIOT
… the shadow of indifference, inertia, apathy and complacency.
3 may help us when we feel unstable and weak
Remember the journey
- not just the starting point and the destination.
OMNE TRIUM PERFECTUM
all sets of 3 are perfect ……?
EXCEPTIONS
three’s a crowd
three wheel car
three legged race
jealousy
The unconscious mind naturally seems to prefer twos
mother and child,
one on one, lovers,
you and me
but maybe the conscious real world prefers the extra stability of three.
Tricycles
Acronyms KGB KKK AFZ (Acronym Free Zone)