The Principles Of Gestalt. Advertisement In 1910, psychologist Max Wertheimer had an insight when he observed a series of lights flashing on and off at a railroad crossing. It was similar to how the lights encircling a movie theater marquee flash on and off. To the observer, it appears as if a single light moves around the marquee, traveling from bulb to bulb, when in reality it’s a series of bulbs turning on and off and the lights don’t move it all. This observation led to a set of descriptive principles about how we visually perceive objects. These principles sit at the heart of nearly everything we do graphically as designers. This is the start of a series of posts about design principles. Future posts in this series will consider aspects of design like space, balance and visual hierarchy.
The Key Ideas Behind Gestalt Theory “The whole is other than the sum of the parts.” — Kurt Koffka The quote above is gestalt in a nutshell. There are several key ideas behind gestalt: Gestalt Principles Closure Closure. Figure/Ground. Figure Ground Relationships. Almost everything that makes graphic design work can be found in a set of laws and principles collectively known as the Gestalt principles of perception. There is no more powerful tool at a designer’s disposal than a comprehensive grasp of these principles. By the same token, those who don’t have a good grasp of them are lost when faced with design projects and often go “fishing” on design gallery sites, being relegated to cliché motifs and layouts. But clients deserve better than our vague understanding. If you haven’t already, resolve to learn the Gestalt principles of perception. Why learn this stuff?
At the risk of sounding like a late night TV commercial, Gestalt principles of perception help to take the guesswork out of design. The name makes them sound complicated, but Gestalt principles are not so difficult to get your head around. First, here are simple definitions for the Gestalt principles of perception: Figure Ground Relationship Law of Prägnanz Uniform Connectedness Closure. Shape recognition study. Figure . Ground Examples. Figure/Ground. THE LETTER Look through books or magazines for a style of letter that appeals to you. Adapt an existing letter style or make up your own. The letter must be recognizable so that it will be an obvious example of figure. Remember you will use the negative shapes from this project next time so design the letter with the negative shapes in mind.
In other words, design the entire format -- both figure and ground. To look at examples of type more faces, called fonts, search the internet. DESIGN TIPS There are many styles of type and more invented every day. Strokes: The marks that make up letters all have names but can be summarized as strokes. On letters with curves, especially script letters, the transition in stroke width is smooth and gradual. Waist: The visual center of a letter is its waist. Consistency: Unity is the goal of all designers. Elements of Visual Design - Figure Ground. An Introduction to the three fundamental elements of composition Figure, Ground and Space. Figure & Ground Being one of the essential elements in the language of graphic design; the principle of figure/ground constitutes one of the most basic laws of perception which is used extensively to compose photographs better.
To put matters simply, figure/ground principle refers to the ability of the human mind to separate various elements in a frame on the basis of contrast: dark and light, black and white, background and foreground, positive and negative, subject and background etc. In this article we will discuss the three fundamental elements of composition, the division of space, figure and ground and learn how to apply them in photography. What is Space? Space refers to the photographic frame, the same as Format for painters. What is Figure? Figure refers to the focal elements the line, shapes etc. that are called the positive shapes or space. What is Ground? The space excluding the figure in a composition is the ground. The Relationship between Figure and Ground Simple Figure Ground.
Figure ground examples. Figure-Ground Figure-ground refers to the shapes, space or forms within a composition. In simplest terms the figure is what you notice and the ground is everything else. The figure also known as the positive space, refers to the image(s) that are visually dominant on the ground. The ground, sometimes referred to as the ‘negative’ space or the background, is the surrounding area that the figure is placed upon. An image can be figure dominant or ground dominant. The mind tends to seek distinctions between the figure (the subject of the design or image) and the ground (the background). A designer typically wants the figure to demand attention; the ground should support the figure and not distract the viewer. (1) A good design creates a balance in that the ground helps define the figure – whether through creating lines that define the shape of the figure, adding color that creates a mood, or establishing a reference point like place – but the figure is what the viewer notices and processes. 1. 2.
The Use of Visual Information in Art. Figure/Ground. Explanations > Perception > Gestalt Theory > Figure/Ground Description | Example | Discussion | So what? Description When we look at something we separate out a foreground, or figure, and a background, or ground. The foreground is usually the main subject on which we will subsequently focus, whilst the background is generally ignored. Areas which stand out are more likely to be seen as the foreground figure. The eye is more sensitive to the color (Red, Orange) There are saturated, bright colors There is a high contrast between the foreground and background (eg. Areas which recede are more likely to be background, Colors where the eye is less sensitive (blue, purple) Unsaturated, pale or pastel colors A large area surrounding the likely foreground Example In the picture below, the red rectangle seems likely to be the foreground because: Note that if there was an extra red area around the outside of the blue, it may be argued that the figure is a blue card with a hole in it.
Discussion See also. Optical Illusions and Visual Phenomena! Optical illusions in film The Eyeline Match: An Exploration Abstract: This project investigated the Eyeline Match, an optical illusion commonly used in film and television. This was done primarily by constructing raw footage with a Kodak zi8 HD camera, and editing the footage to create experimental clips of eyeline matches. The clips were shown to a participants whose task was to decide whether each eyeline match worked or not. The results demonstrate some of the parameters that determine the effectiveness of the illusion. Introduction: Nearly every film released today makes heavy use of the editing technique called the eyeline match (EM).
EM is a technique that has been in use since the early days of movies, at least as far back as 1929, to aid the viewer in imagining a consistent virtual space. Filmmakers have since then taken the eyeline match for granted as part of their arsenal of editing techniques. Methods: Results: The variables investigated are listed below. Order of shots Sound 1. Perception and the design of forms – Part 1: Shape - Formulate Information Design. Why do we see what we see? Most of us understand, in a general way, how it is that humans see. Light hits the eye, stimulating rods and cones and sending electrical signals down the optic nerve to the brain. But have you ever stopped to think about how this biological process leads to the rich visual space that we move about and interact with every day? For example, how is it that we can know, without thinking, that the computer monitor is closer to us than the window, which is closer again than the car parked on the street outside?
In this particular example you could argue that we understand cars are parked on the street, and the street is something that runs outside the building we are in, and the monitor is on the desk that we are working on. Here's another example. Figure 1: Demonstration of the consistency in the way humans see. Underlying principles lead the brain to interpret what we see consistently 6 Gestalt Laws of Perception relate directly to the visual design of forms.