Gestalt Principles
Seçil TOROS
PERCEPTION _ Graphic designers do more than decorate a surface. They
work with the fundamental principles of perception
• Brain Itself
• Experiences
• Expectations
“ Realism in art and design is not an absolute but a convention that our
culture and personal background create from visual data” (Arntson, 1998)
GESTALT
Gestalt is a psychology term which means "unified whole".
It refers to theories of visual perception developed by German psychologists
in the 1920s
“ Total is greater than the sum of its parts”
GESTALT _ Gestalt psychologists have investigated the way
humans process information from two-dimensional surface.
• The appearance of any one element or shape depends upon its
surroundings.
• Active eye seeks the simplest satisfactory explanation for what it sees.
• We finish uncompleted shapes
• We group similar shapes.
• We see foreground and background on a flat surface.
(Arntson, 1998)
“ Total is greater than the sum of its parts”
THE GESTALT _5 RULES _ Gestalt Principles are a way to organize visual
perception
1. Proximity
2. Similarity
3. Closure
4. Continuation
5. Figure and Ground
“ Total is greater than the sum of its parts”
1. PROXIMITY
Things that are close to
one another are
perceived to be more
related than things that
are spaced farther apart.
Are you grouping things correctly?
Are you using proximity to help imply
importance and relationships?
PROXIMITY
There are many ways to
group elements
Are you grouping things correctly?
Are you using proximity to help
imply importance and relationships?
PROXIMITY
Element which are close
are perceived as a shape.
PROXIMITY
Element which are close
are perceived as a group.
PROXIMITY
Element which are close
are perceived as a group.
PROXIMITY
Color, size and style also
work for proximity
PROXIMITY_Are you grouping things correctly? Are you using
proximity to help imply importance and relationships?
2. SIMILARITY
Things that are similar
are perceived to be
more related than
things that are
dissimilar
Similar appearance equates to
similar function.
SIMILARITY
Features which look similar
are associated
It is based on repetition of
shape, size, color, texture,
value or orientation
SIMILARITY
• Unity
• Emphasize
• Links
SIMILARITY
3. CLOSURE_ Closure means that we "close" objects that are
themselves not complete
Closure occurs when an
object is incomplete or
a space is not
completely enclosed. If
enough of the shape is
indicated, people
perceive the whole by
filling in the missing
information.
We humans are very adept at
drawing conclusions from
less-than-all the information
CLOSURE
When looking at a
complex arrangement of
individual elements,
humans tend to first look
for a single, recognizable
pattern.
CLOSURE
In order to utilize closure as an
effective design mechanism, you
must make it easy for closure to
occur.
CLOSURE
When presented with less
than the full picture, we
attempt to employ the
principle of closure to fill in
missing information and
form a complete image or
idea based on common or
easily recognizable
patterns from our past
experience and
understanding.
4. CONTINUATION _ Common Fate
We perceive items or
objects moving (or
appearing to move) in
the same direction as
related to each other,
more so than elements
that are stationary or
appear to be moving in
different directions.
Those related items are
sharing a "common
fate."
CONTINUATION _ Common Fate
Continuation also occurs
when the eye is compelled
to move through one
object and continue to
another object.
CONTINUATION _ Common Fate
Continuation helps us
group shapes and
information.
CONTINUATION _ Common Fate
5. FIGURE-GROUND (Prägnanz)
The eye differentiates
an object form its
surrounding area.
A form, silhouette, or
shape is naturally
perceived as figure
(object), while the
surrounding area is
perceived as ground
(background).
A thing (figure) is only
visible to the eztent that
it seen as seperate from
its background (ground)
FIGURE-GROUND
¨ Excellent color contrast
¨ The focus figure is placed
near the central area within
the frame, hence giving a very
balanced feel.
¨ The foreground is more
detailed than the background.
¨ Obvious focal point hints
significance (red rose)
¨ Background is not trying to
compete with the foreground
for attention
FIGURE-GROUND
Elements are perceived as
either figures (distinct
elements of focus) or
ground (the background or
landscape on which the
figures rest).
Our perception of the
figure ground relationship
allows us to organize what
we see by how each object
relates to others. The short
and sweet version is: it
allows us to determine
what we’re supposed to
look at and what we might
safely ignore.
FIGURE-GROUND
It is sometimes called
positive negative space
We are able to recognize
and read words because
we organize the lettes into
a figure lying against a
ground
FIGURE-GROUND
Many beginning designers
concentrate only on the
mark they make and are
not aware of white space
surrounding it.
FIGURE-GROUND
TYPES OF
FIGURE_GROUND
1.
STABLE: Figure is
figure and ground is
ground
2.
REVERSIBLE: figure
and ground compete
3.
AMBIGUOUS: figure
and ground create an
optical illusion
REFERNCES
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Becer, Emre (2002). letişim ve Grafik Tasarım. Ankara: Dost Kitabevi
Arntson, E. Amy (2012). Graphic Design Basics (Vol. 6). Wadsworth, Cengage
Learning: USA
http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/gestalt-principles-applied-in-design/
http://www.instantshift.com/2011/09/19/the-close-relationship-between-gestaltprinciples-and-design/
http://www.andyrutledge.com/gestalt-principles-1-figure-ground-relationship.php
http://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltpr
inc.htm
http://www.artinarch.com/vp12.html