iOS 7 and The Golden Ratio 1 to 1.618
The Golden Ratio is a term used to describe aesthetically pleasing proportioning within a piece, used throughout history in all forms of art, so its no surprise that it can be found in the new icons created for iOS 7. With the complete redesign of their icon set and the over-arching theme of “simplified” and “clean” look, there is actually a good bit of thought and time spent to achieve this aesthetic.
Apple iOS 7 New Icon Set with Golden Ratio Overlay

To utilize the golden ratio, the icon designs begin on a 1024px x 1024px art board. They are then divided up by square blocks which are 16px x 16px, which is predominately used for finite adjusting of the icons during creation. The circles seen overlaid on the icons are created by dividing the art board using a rectangle that is 512px x 320px. Dividing the two dimensions of the rectangle equals approximately 1.618 – otherwise known as The Golden Ratio.
Staying within the set guides of the golden ratio allow for a very well balanced visual plain and an innate sense of cohesiveness.
FREEBIE!!
For all of you designers out there that are interested in using the same grid system for any icon sets that you may be creating, please click on the link below to download a Photoshop file with visual markers and guidelines already setup. You’re welcome!
iOS 7 icon grid system Photoshop Document