Gestalt
Principles
What are
Gestalt Principles?
Gestalt is a term used in Psychology meaning
“unified whole”. It was developed by German
psychologists in the 1920s. This theory tries to
describe how people organize visual elements
into groups (unified wholes) when different
principles are applied.
Closure:
Closure is where an object is incomplete or
when there’s a space is not completely closed.
When enough of the shape is shown we
perceive it to be complete.
The panda is not complete,
but enough of the picture is
present for the eye to
complete the rest of the
picture.
Proximity:
Proximity refers to how close objects are
together. The closer they are to one-another
the more likely we are to perceive them as a
group. But when they are further apart we see
them as being separate.
In the first image the
squares a placed
without proximity and
are seen as separate
images. But in the
second image the
squares are placed
close together and are
seen as a whole
image.
Figure-Ground:
Is when we have the tendency to perceive one
aspect of a picture to be the figure or the foreground and the other as the ground or background.
This is a picture of only
one object but by
changing our perspective
of figure & ground we
can see two.
Similarity:
Similarity is when objects look similar to each
other, people often see them as a group or
pattern.
In this picture 11 distinct
pictures are used to
create unity because all
of the images have
something in common,
the triangles at the
bottom of the eagle look
similar to the triangles
of the sun around the
image.