Gestalt Principles

Gesundheit! No I didn't sneeze. Gestalt principles are known as the "Law of Simplicity" or the "Law of Pragnanz". The theory is that every stimulus is perceived in its most simple form. Gestalt theorists followed the basic principle that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, like a car. A windshield wiper is great, but it's no good without the windshield, and the windshield is no good if it's not set inside the frame, etc. You get the point. The whole carries a different and altogether greater meaning than its individual components. In viewing the "whole," a cognitive process takes place – the mind makes a leap from comprehending the parts to realizing the whole. When you go to buy a car you don't start with looking at windshield wipers, you look at the whole car (and how cool you will look in it). We visually and psychologically attempt to make order out of chaos, to create harmony or structure from seemingly disconnected bits of information. Sound familiar? This relates to the work you do here, as well as your career path choice. We are visual communicators, and as such it is our responsibility to take all of the information, whether it's a chart or learning outcomes and unify and simplify the information so that it's visually easy to convey the greater meaning.

There are 5 Gestalt Principles:

• Similarity
• Continuity
• Closure
• Proximity
• Figure ground

Similarity

• Gestalt theory states that things which share visual characteristics such as shape, size, color, texture, or value will be seen as belonging together in the viewer’s mind
• Repetition of forms or colors in a composition is pleasing in much the same way rhythm is pleasing in music, the forms aren't necessarily identical - there may be tremendous variety within the repetition, yet the correspondence will still be discernible
• Like static and dynamic tension a deliberate use of similarity in composition can impart meaning to the viewer that is independent of the subject matter of the image
• Similarity or repetition in an image often has connotations of harmony and inter-relatedness, or rhythm and movement
• good composition: regardless of the subject matter, makes some use of similarity in arranging elements and space for aesthetic advantage
  
  

  

  Image Credit: Victor Ngai, New Yorker Interiors, 2014.

Image Credit: Kadir Nelson.

Continuity

• This Gestalt principle states that learners "tend to continue shapes beyond their ending points".
• The edge of one shape will continue into the space and meet up with other shapes or the edge of the picture plane.
• Continuity in the form of a line, an edge, or a direction from one form to another creates a fluid connection among compositional parts.
  
  

  

   Image Credit: Balthus, The Living Room, 1941-43.

Image Credit: Jing Jing Tsong, Twinkle Twinkle Small Hoku, 2014

Closure

• Closure is the effect of suggesting a visual connection or continuity between sets of elements which do not actually touch each other in a composition.
• The principle of closure applies when we tend to see complete figures even when part of the information is missing.
• Closure occurs when elements in a composition are aligned in such a way that the viewer perceives that "the information could be connected."
• Imaginary lines called vectors, or shapes called counter forms, are generated by these relationships, which the eye understands as part of the composition even though there is "nothing there.
• Vectors and counter forms exert forces and tensions that are as real in defining its underlying structure as the elements that are visible.
• Linear vectors direct the path of the eye through the composition and determine where the eye will go once it is attracted by the prominent features of the composition.
• A vector can be straight or curved, depending on the relationships that form it.
• Counter forms, (or negative spaces), determine to a great extent whether or not the composition will be perceived as a harmonious whole. Counter forms "echo" the positive visual elements with "similarity," or create powerful substructures that support and connect visible elements.
• Closure can be thought of as the tension or "glue" that holds a two-dimensional structure together
  
  
   

  

  Image Credit: Bev Doolittle

  
  
  
  
  Proximity

• The Gestalt law of proximity states that "objects or shapes that are close to one another appear to form groups". Even if the shapes, sizes, and objects are radically different, they will appear as a group if they are close together.
• refers to the way smaller elements are "massed" in a composition
• Also called "grouping," the principle concerns the effect generated when the collective presence of the set of elements becomes more meaningful than their presence as separate elements
• Arranging words into sentences or titles is an obvious way to group unrelated elements to enhance their meaning (it also depends on a correct order for comprehension)
• Grouping the words also changes the visual and psychological meaning of the composition in non-verbal ways unrelated to their meaning
• Elements which are grouped together create the illusion of shapes or planes in space, even if the elements are not touching.
• Grouping of this sort can be achieved with:

• Tone / value
• Color
• Shape
• Size
• Or other physical attributes 

Image Credit: Seurat, Sunday at the Park.

Image Credit: Chuck Close

Figure Ground

• shows our perceptual tendency to separate whole figures from their backgrounds based on one or more of a number of possible variables, such as contrast, color, size, etc.
• A simple composition may have only one figure
• In a complex composition there will be several things to notice. As we look from one to another they each become figure in turn.
• Everything that is not figure is ground
• As our attention shifts, the ground also shifts so that an object can go from figure to ground and then back
• Ground is sometimes thought of as background or negative space
• Figure-ground refers to the relationship between an object and its surround. Sometimes the relationship is stable, meaning that it is easy to pick out the figure from the ground.
• Other times the relationship is unstable, meaning it is difficult to pick out the figure from the ground. Rarely, the relationship is ambiguous, meaning that the figure could be the ground or vice-versa
• Clearly differentiate between figure and ground in order to focus attention and minimize perceptual confusion
• Camouflage is the deliberate alteration of figure-ground so that the figure blends into the ground
  
  

  

  Image Credit: Stefano Vitale, On the Take, 2015

  

  Image Credit: Jon Krause, The Invisible Puppeteer, 2015.

  

  Image Credit: M.C. Escher, Day and Night, 1938.
  
  

  
  What Gestalt Principles are being used in this illustration?
  
  

  

  Image Credit: Curtis Parker, 2015.