Understanding Gestalt Principles in Graphic Design.pdf
- 3. THE WHOLE IS GREATER THAN THE SUM OF THE PARTS.
- 4. Gestalt psychology is a movement that led to the development of the Gestalt principles. It began in Germany in 1910. After watching flashing lights at a railroad crossing, psychologist Max Wertheimer noticed that the lights appeared to be moving, even though he knew they were simply individual lights turning on and off. This realization led Wertheimer, with his assistants Wolfgang Köhler and Kurt Koffka, to develop a theory that perception involved more than simply combining sensory stimuli. This became known as Gestalt psychology. WHAT IS GESTALT? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVzf9rtgf9Y
- 5. Gestalt principles are principles/laws of human perception that describe how humans group similar elements, recognize patterns and simplify complex images when we perceive objects. Designers and artists use the principles to create and organize visual content and images so it is aesthetically pleasing and easy to process. WHAT IS GESTALT?
- 6. Gestalt theory tells us that when we look at a complex image or design consisting of many elements, our brains will try to create some form, pattern, or structure. These principles are the common unconscious visual shortcuts our brains use to make meaning out of our environments. WHAT ARE THE GESTALT PRINCIPLES?
- 8. 1. FIGURE-GROUND This principle is often used to convey two different messages simultaneously. The eye organizes forms in 3D space, separating elements into background and foreground. This holds true even if the foreground element is completely flat: the eye will see everything surrounding the subject as the background.
- 9. 1. FIGURE-GROUND In the FedEx logo, if you look at the negative space between the ‘e’ and ‘x,’ you can see an arrow. This shape gives a sense of motion and direction that makes sense for a shipping company that prioritizes speed like FedEx.
- 10. 2. PROXIMITY The principle of Proximity describes the spatial relationship between objects in terms of whether they are close to or far away from one another. Specifically, Proximity states that objects that are near each form a collective group even if they do not come into direct contact. This principle holds regardless of whether the proximal objects differ in a variety of other ways such as size, color and shape.
- 11. 2. PROXIMITY Unilever’s logo is a great example of Proximity. Since the small figures are placed closely to each other, it is easy to perceive the group as a letter “U”.
- 12. 3. SIMILARITY This principle theorizes that we mentally group objects that look alike. Objects with similar qualities are understood to belong to the same group. These qualities are generally the physical and visual attributes of an object, such as color, texture and shape.
- 13. 3. SIMILARITY In this photo, our eye perceives two groups... the smaller yachts on the left, and the two larger yachts on the right because of each respective group’s similarity in size.
- 14. The principle of Continuity states that the human eye will follow a line beyond its end point in order to avoid sudden interruption. Continuity is especially useful for line drawings and illustration. Understanding how the eye will follow and connect separate brush strokes allows the illustrator to intentionally keep the intended figure cohesive. 4. CONTINUITY Our mind wants to follow the continuous line or direction in a line (as at the left). It is simpler and makes sense visually.
- 15. The Subway logo is a great example of Continuity. The arrows at either end of the letters allows our eye to perceive a continuous line that extends beyond the bounds of the logo design. 4. CONTINUITY
- 16. The principle of Closure states that even if an image is missing parts, your brain will fill in the blanks and perceive a complete picture. 5. CLOSURE
- 17. The eye will perceive a completed form even if parts of the form are missing or incomplete—in other words, there is a tendency to resolve partial visual information. 5. CLOSURE
- 18. The principle of Simplicity states that the eye will instinctively choose to interpret the simplest possible form. This means that when presented with an image containing multiple shapes, the mind may choose to separate them or group them depending on which solution is the most straightforward. 6. SIMPLICITY The most iconic example of this concept in design is The Olympics logo. You likely see it as five overlapping circles because the whole shape is harder to understand and describe.
- 19. This principle proposes that visually- connected objects are more related than objects with no connection. For example, in the diagram at right, even though there are two squares and two circles, we see the square–circle pairs as more strongly related because the line visually connects them. Elements that have a visual connection are perceived as related, whereas elements with no connection are not related. 7. UNIFORM CONNECTEDNESS
- 20. According to this principle, contrasting elements stand out more to us than similar ones. For example, in the image below, our eyes are drawn to the red square because it’s a different size, shape, and color than the black dots surrounding it. 8. FOCAL POINT
- 22. Gestalt principles or laws are rules that describe how the human eye perceives visual elements. These principles aim to show how complex scenes can be reduced to more simple shapes. They also aim to explain how the eyes (and mind) perceive the shapes as a single, united form rather than the separate simpler elements involved. The principles of gestalt explain the process that allows our brains to efficiently observe, record, process, and recall visual data. IN SUMMARY