In honor of what would have been Nicolaus Copernicus’ 540th birthday, here is a reworking of the cover I did for the Lantern Journal (Summer 2012) of a Copernican view of our Solar System.

The entire design conforms to proportions as dictated by the golden ratio (1.168:1). The full exegesis and the original design can be found in an older post, but briefly, each “tooth” in the orbital “cogs” of the planets represent approximately one day (24 hours), and each “thick dash” (as seen in the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn) represent approximately one earth year (365 days).

Everything falls along the golden scale of 1.618:1 (from the size of the planets to the size of their orbits). The layout of the planets is dictated by a golden spiral beginning from the center of the plane and by the classical canons of page construction. Added elements not found in the original include my own notes/guides on the laws of harmonic page construction along the golden scale which dictated my layout.

A detailed version can be found on my dribbble post as an attachment as well.