Gestalt
Colour Schemes
Gestalt
Gestalt
Colour Schemes
Gestalt is the German word for "form”
The sum of the parts
Form
The ‘whole’
The essential point of gestalt is that in
perception the whole is different
from the sum of its parts.
The whole is
more than
the sum of its parts
Gestalt
Colour Schemes
These mind puzzles, firstly you may see a vase or
see 2 heads facing each other
Gestalt engages us with the picture.
Gestalt
Colour Schemes
By Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/t/press_room_image_files) [Public domain],
via Wikimedia. Source:
Commonshttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ALogo_Youtube.svg
By Rob Janoff [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Apple
_Computer_Logo_rainbow.svg
Woman Power logo from a women’s movement of the 1970’s (Germany) - source:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Womanpower_logo.svg
Gestalt is often used in logo design
because it engages the viewer
By Phil von (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bysa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ALogo_v.m.jpg
Gestalt
Colour Schemes
Use gestalt to:
• liven up your work
• challenge the viewer
• to get the view to look more closely
at the work
Gestalt
Colour Schemes
Gestalt theory can be broken down into different theories or
laws, such as:
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Law of Prägnanz
Proximity
Similarity
Closure
Figure and ground
Good continuation
Open form
This presentation looks at the laws. However, the best way
to understand them is to pick your own examples which
simply give the impression the whole is more than the
sum of the parts
Gestalt
Colour Schemes
”Law of Praganz"
A figure will be appear “complete”
or “good” (e.g. symmetrical,
simple, and regular).
Here the figure looks as if it is a
square with an overlapping circle,
not a flat surface of lines.
This is called Law of Prägnanz.
Gestalt
Colour Schemes
The brain perceives well-organized patterns
rather than separate component parts
Just 24 black circles arranged on a page?
Or also 3 lines and a square?
Even though there are 24 black circles,
the brain perceives lines and a square.
This is the law of Proximity because
elements close together will appear as a
coherent object.
Gestalt
Colour Schemes
Even though there are 24 black circles, the brain perceives
lines and a square also
as 3 lines
as a square
Gestalt
Colour Schemes
Law of Similarity
Elements that look similar will
be perceived as part of the
same form.
Gestalt
Colour Schemes
as 2 parts
Gestalt
Colour Schemes
Law of Closure
There are 4
parts arranged on the
page, such that another shape appears, a
white square.
Patterns take precedence over the parts.
In the example the whole consists of a
square and the 4 parts, so the whole is
more. 'The whole is more than
the sum of its parts.
Gestalt
Colour Schemes
C
BACH
Law of Closure
The form that appears on the
left becomes a “C” when
placed next to other letters.
This is because
subconsciously we close the
gaps to form the letter “C”.
Gestalt
Colour Schemes
Foreground
Figure & Ground
The brain can ‘see’ a
foreground and background,
instead of a flat surface.
Similar parts may appear as the
foreground on top of a
background to give the
impression of two “whole”
parts, instead of a single flat
surface.
Background
The well-known artist Escher
often created works in which
figure and ground
interchanged.
Gestalt
Colour Schemes
Figure & Ground
The shape can appear as a
white square on a circle, or as a
circle with a square hole.
+
or
?
?
Gestalt
Colour Schemes
Law of Good Continuation
The eye tends to continue
contours if there is an implied
direction.
The eye “fills” in the remaining
pattern.
In graphic design, gestalt theory allows us to
change how viewers respond to a design ....
Gestalt
Colour Schemes
Creating an Open Form
The image on the left is
formal, static and
uninteresting.
The image on the right has
been cropped. Parts of the
image have disappeared from
view, so the viewer has to
complete the picture.
Entry points
to the picture.
Entry points now exist and the
viewer has become actively
involved.
Gestalt
Colour Schemes
Creating an Open Form
The static image on the
left does possess entry
points for the viewer.
The image on the left has
many entry points to
actively involve the
viewer
Designs and
compositions which
actively involve the
viewer always do
better that those which
do not
Gestalt
Colour Schemes
Example: applying gestalt to change poster design
The picture on the
right has become
more abstract and
challenging
This the original, quirky
and light-hearted
design
The end result has a “chewed”
appearance - the viewer has to
engage with it more
Gestalt
Colour Schemes
Colours can affect one another
A colour can appear differently if it is close to another contrasting colour.
Which colour square below matches the colour of the text?
MOTIVATION
2
1
Here the black makes the lettering appear white,
where as in fact the white is an off-white or grey colour.