Gestalt principles of form perception by Mads Soegaard Gestalt psychology attempts to understand psychological phenomena by viewing them as organised and structured wholes rather than the sum of their constituent parts. Thus, Gestalt psychology dissociates itself from the more 'elementistic'/reductionistic/decompositional approaches to psychology like structuralism (with its tendency to analyse mental processes into elementary sensations) and it accentuates concepts like emergent properties, holism, and context. In the 30s and 40s Gestalt psychology was applied to visual perception, most notably by Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Khler, and Kurt Koffka who founded the so-called gestalt approaches to form perception. Law of proximity Figure 1.A: A real-world example of the law of proximity from MTV Music Awards 2002 Figure 1.B.: An example of the use of the law of proximity in interface design - Kazaa Media Desktop Figure 1.C.: A typical "text-book way" of exemplifying the law of proximity Law of similarity Law of Prgnanz (figure-ground) Law of symmetry
The designer’s guide to Gestalt Theory If you’ve ever wondered why some design approaches seem more coherent, connected or unified than others, it may be because the designer has used the Gestalt principles to help bring together their design elements. In the 1920s a group of psychologists in Germany developed a series of theories of visual perception, describing how viewers group together different objects into groups or a single coherent whole when the separate elements are arranged together in a particular way. The prominent founders of the collection of theories and principles are Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler, and Kurt Koffka. The term Gestalt means 'unified whole', which is a good way of describing the over-arching theme behind the principles: if you collect together your design elements in an arrangement using one of the approaches, your design will feel more connected, coherent and complete. Rudolf Arnheim While it's well worth reading Arnheim's book, to summarise there are six common, basic Gestalt Principles: 01.
ARTSEDGE: Formal Visual Analysis: The Elements & Principles of Composition Overview In any work of art, all of these elements and principles will be present, but some will be more obvious than others. When engaging in formal analysis, students should select the elements they feel are most strongly represented in the piece they are analyzing. A good place to start formal analysis is to look at a work of art and take note of how your eye moves around the object. Formal analysis is an important technique for organizing visual information. The Elements The elements of formal analysis are building blocks that can be combined to create a larger structure. Line is the most basic building block of formal analysis. Value is the degree of light and dark in a design. Shapes are created when lines are combined to form a square, triangle, or circle. Forms are three-dimensional shapes with length, width, and depth. Space is the area between and around objects. Color differentiates and defines lines, shapes, forms, and space. The Principles
The Concept of Truth that Matters | William James Studies Bibliography Cormier, Harvey, The Truth is What Works, William James Pragmatism and the Seed of Death, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Lanham, Maryland, 2001. Damasio, Antonio R., Descartes’ Error, Quill/Harper Collins Books, New York, Foucault, Michel, “The Formation of Objects” in The Archeology of Knowledge, and the Discourse on Language trans. Garfield, Jay L. and Kiteley, Murray, eds., Meaning and Truth, Paragon Issues in Philosophy, Paragon House, NY, 1991. Gettier, Edmund, “Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?” Hall, David L., and Ames, Roger T., Thinking from the Han: Self, Truth and Transcendence in Chinese and Western Culture, State University of New York Press, Albany, NY, 1998. James, William, Pragmatism and Four Essays from The Meaning of Truth, New American Library, New York, 1974, reprint of editions of Pragmatism1907 & The Meaning of Truth 1909. ______ “The Will to Believe,” in The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy, Longmans, Green and Co. Notes 21 Ibid.
10 Heuristics for User Interface Design Visibility of system status The system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time. (Read full article on visibility of system status.) Match between system and the real world The system should speak the users' language, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. (Read full article on the match between the system and the real world.) User control and freedom Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked "emergency exit" to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Consistency and standards Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Error prevention Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. (Read full article on preventing user errors.) Recognition rather than recall Help and documentation
Design Principles: Visual Perception And 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. 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: Emergence (the whole is identified before the parts)Emergence is the process of forming complex patterns from simple rules. Closure
Composition and Design Principles ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Everybody immediately responds to subject matter in art. A picture of a butterfly and a picture of a snake do not get the same response. In addition to subject matter*, the formal aspects of visual composition are like the grammar of a language. The use of design principles applied to the visual elements is like visual grammar. TEACHING TIP Art vocabulary can be taught along with every project. *Glossary: "Subject matter" is similar to "topic" or "content" when teaching art. Six Visual Elements (art elements) top of page We think of the elements as the basic visual material with which to make art. Some Design Principles or design rules (some creative artists purposely break rules) top of page This list is an example list. Balance is the consideration of visual weight and importance. Variety - You create variety when elements are changed. Motion. Sometimes it has to do with orientation. Depth.
The Husserl Page Color Theory Tutorial by Worqx Why study color theory? If you are involved in the creation or design of visual documents, an understanding of color will help when incorporating it into your own designs. Choices regarding color often seem rather mystical, as many seem to base decisions on nothing other than "it looks right." Although often told I had an eye for color, the reason why some colors worked together while others did not always intrigued me and I found the study of color theory fascinating. While attending the University of Minnesota I enrolled in almost every course I could from different departments: graphic design, interior design, and fine arts. Communicating Color What is red? HTML Red Pantone® Red Pantone® Warm Red TRUEMATCH® 6-a Color Application With respect to the arts, color was part of the realistic, visual representation of form, but one group of painters abandoned the traditional practices regarding color in painting. The next several pages of this site offer a tutorial regarding color theory.
Gestalt principles and the psychology of design | Get the creative edge The word “gestalt” gets thrown around a lot in design. Taken from the German word for “form” or “shape,” it often refers to the overall look of something that is greater than the sum of its parts. In psychology, gestalt refers to the basic principles that allow us to visually perceive order. These principles are fundamental building blocks for creating visual meaning – and often seen in logo design. Figure-ground Logo: Sony Walkman (via Wikipedia) When we look at the Sony Walkman logo (above), we don’t simply see a single plain containing orange and white pixels – even though that’s actually what it is. That’s thanks to the figure-ground gestalt principle, which says that when a smaller shape is surrounded by a larger uniform area, we perceive the smaller object to be in front and have the border. Notice how the figure-ground distinction breaks down when the surrounding field is no longer uniform. The perception of illusory depth disappears when the background is non-uniform Proximity
Gestalt Principles: Visual Perception And Design In 1910, psychologist Max Wertheimer had an insight1 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. Further Reading on SmashingMag: Link 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 Link “The whole is other than the sum of the parts.” — Kurt Koffka The quote above is gestalt in a nutshell. Emergence (the whole is identified before the parts) Link
Technologie et Nouvel Ordre Mondial: La nouvelle puce 3G du processeur Intel vPro permet l’espionnage global des données personnelles Il est effarant de constater que toute avancée technologique depuis quelques décennies n’a été faite que pour deux raisons majeures: Le profitLe contrôle des populations Souvent sous couvert de "rendre la vie meilleure et plus facile"… La science et la technologie ont été kidnappées par l’oligarchie il y a bien longtemps et il est grand temps que nous nous en apercevions et que nous fassions enfin quelque chose à ce sujet avant que la grille de contrôle du N.O.M ne se soit refermée complètement… Mise à jour du 2 Octobre: Une solution que nous proposons avec nos lecteurs à ce problème informatique, à voir ici – Résistance 71 – La puce secrète 3G Intel donne un accès backdoor furtif aux ordinateurs PC Les processeurs Intel vPro permettent un accès furtif aux ordinateurs même lorsque ceux-ci sont éteints et hors réseau… Paul J. 27 Septembre 2013 url de l’article original: ~ Traduit de l’anglais par Résistance 71 ~ “La finalité de tout cela ?