Gestalt Principles

Gestalt Principles

Gestalt is a psychology term which means "unified whole". It refers to theories of visual perception developed by German psychologists in the 1920s. These theories attempt to describe how people tend to organize visual elements into groups or unified wholes when certain principles are applied. These principles are:

1. Similarity occurs when objects look similar to one another. People often perceive them as a group or pattern.
2. When similarity occurs, an object can be emphasised if it isdissimilar to the others. This is called anomaly.
3. Continuation occurs when the eye is compelled to move through one object and continue to another object.
4. Closure occurs when an object is incomplete or a space is not completely enclosed. If enough of the shape is indicated, people percieve the whole by filling in the missing information.
5. Proximity occurs when elements are placed close together. They tend to be perceived as a group.

The eye differentiates an object form its surrounding area. a form, silhouette, or shape is naturrally perceived as figure (object), while the surrounding area is perceived asground (background). Balancing figure and ground can make the perceived image more clear. Using unusual figure/ground relationships can add interest and sublety to an image.

Example of Similarity

Example of Anomaly 

Example of Continuation

Example of Closure

Example of Proximity

 Figure

The word above is clearly perceived as figure with the surrounding white space ground.

Examples of Figure and Ground

An exercise sheet

References

1. The Gestalt Principles:http://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm