tailwindcss-golden-ratio

https://goldenratio.app — built to help devs create better designs by TRUE FRONTIER

This Tailwind plugin introduces a set of utilities based on the Golden Ratio, a mathematical constant that occurs frequently in nature and is believed to be aesthetically pleasing. The plugin aims to simplify and beautify spacing conventions in Tailwind CSS by providing a consistent and visually appealing set of spacing values.

Resources

• Spacing Cheatsheet
• The Golden Grid for creating grid layouts with the Golden Ratio
• The Gold Calculator for finding what combination of values will be equivalent to another set of values

How to Install

npm i -D tailwindcss-golden-ratio

tailwind.config.js

module.exports = {
  // ...

  theme: {
    // ...

    goldenRatio: {
      // Custom configuration @see: https://github.com/truefrontier/tailwindcss-golden-ratio/tree/master#how-to-customize
    },
  },

  plugins: [
    require('tailwindcss-golden-ratio'), 
  ],
}

How to Use

The plugin generates utility classes for the following Tailwind properties:

• spacing (includes margin, padding, and various other spacing-related properties)
• aspectRatio
• backgroundSize
• borderRadius
• borderWidth
• divideWidth
• fontSize
• gap
• height
• inset
• lineHeight
• maxHeight
• maxWidth
• minHeight
• minWidth
• outlineOffset
• outlineWidth
• ringOffsetWidth
• ringWidth
• scale
• scrollMargin
• scrollPadding
• space
• strokeWidth
• translate
• textIndent
• textUnderlineOffset
• width

Each property has utility classes for the 11 main Golden Ratio values, as well as their halves and doubles. Because there are 11 values, this puts 6 in the middle, so 6 is the base unit. By default this base unit is 1.5rem;

mt-gr-6 => margin-top: var(--golden-ratio-6) => margin-top: 1.5rem

Any number lower will lessen this base unit by a factor of 1.61803398875 (the Golden Ratio). Numbers 7-11 increase this base unit by a factor of 1.618...

mt-gr-5 => margin-top: var(--golden-ratio-5) => margin-top: 0.927051rem (1.5 / 1.61803)
mt-gr-4 => margin-top: var(--golden-ratio-4) => margin-top: 0.572949rem (1.5 / 1.61803 / 1.61803)
...

mt-gr-7 => margin-top: var(--golden-ratio-7) => margin-top: 2.42705rem (1.5 * 1.61803)
mt-gr-8 => margin-top: var(--golden-ratio-8) => margin-top: 3.92705rem (1.5 * 1.61803 * 1.61803)
...

Fixed Units

Sometimes you may need the fixed equivalents for the golden ratios. It comes in handy when making sure resized SVGs don't get cut off and font-sizes don't change if the system accessibility settings try to adjust it.

You can use fixed units when you use the grf prefix. By default there are 16px for each spacer unit.

mt-grf-6 => margin-top: var(--golden-ratio-fixed-6) => margin-top: 24px (1.5 * 16)

By default the px value will be rounded, but you can change that under customization

Aspect Ratio

For aspect ratio we set aspect-gr-6 as the base. So it has 1 / 1 (or a square) aspect-ratio value.

Anything under 6 will become portrait (smaller width):
aspect-gr-5 => aspect-ratio: 0.618034 / 1

Anything over 6 will become landscape (larger width):
aspect-gr-7 => aspect-ratio: 1.618034 / 1

How to Customize

This plugin is highly configurable, allowing you to customize the prefix, unit, rounding behavior, and more.

tailwind.config.js

module.exports = {
  // ...

  theme: {
    // ...
    
    goldenRatio: {
      /**
       * Use a prefix instead of overwriting existing spacing utilities
       * @type {Boolean|String}
       * default: true|'gr-'
       * example: 'golden-ratio-' would generate classes like mt-golden-ratio-2);
       */
      prefix: true,

      /**
       * The spacing unit
       * @type {String}
       * default: 'rem'
       */
      spacerUnit: 'rem',

      /**
       * The starting point for spacing
       * @type {Number}
       * default: 1.5
       * 
       * There are 11 spacing values in this system.
       * That puts the 6 value in the middle, so it is the base.
       * Setting the spacerBase to `1.5` will make `m-gr-6` => `margin: 1.5rem`
       * 
       * Values 5-1 get exponentially smaller by the golden-ratio factor. 
       * eg. `m-gr-5` => `margin: 0.927051rem` // value comes from (1.5 / 1.61803)
       * eg. `m-gr-4` => `margin: 0.572949rem` // value comes from (1.5 / 1.61803 / 1.61803)
       * 
       * Values 7-11 get expontially larger by the golden-ratio factor. 
       * eg. `m-gr-7` => `margin: 2.42705rem` // value comes from (1.5 * 1.61803)
       * eg. `m-gr-8` => `margin: 3.92705rem` // value comes from (1.5 * 1.61803 * 1.61803)
       * 
       */
      spacerBase: 1.5,

      /**
       * The unit for fixed spacing
       * @type {String}
       * default: 'px'
       * 
       * This duplicates the golden ratio spacing but fixed.
       * This gives you more control when working with things like:
       *  - system font-size settings for accessiblility
       */
      fixedSpacerUnit: 'px',

      /**
       * How many fixed units are in 1 spacer base unit
       * @type {Number}
       * default: 16
       * 
       * example: `m-grf-6` => `24px` // value comes from (16 * 1.5) where 1.5 is the spacer unit
       */
      fixedUnitsPerSpacerUnit: 16,

      /**
       * Round to the nearest pixel
       * @type {Boolean}
       * default: true
       * 
       * If you want to use the fixed values, you probably don't want partial pixels. 
       * This gives you more control when working with things like:
       *  - not cutting off svgs on certain devices
       */
      roundFixedValues: true,

      /**
       * Use css variables for generated values
       * @type {Boolean}
       * 
       * This is useful if you ever want to use custom calc()
       * eg. -translate-y-[calc(100%+var(--golden-ratio-6))]
       */
      useCssVars: true
    },
    
    // ...
  },

  plugins: [
    require('tailwindcss-golden-ratio'), 
  ],

  // ...
}