the gestalt principles

8/6/2019 The Gestalt Principles

1/20

Gestalt Principles

http://desktoppub.about.com/od/gestalt/Gestalt.htm

Gestalt is also known as the "Law of Simplicity" orthe "Law of Pragnanz" (the entire figure orconfiguration), which states that every stimulus isperceived in its most simple form.

Gestalt theorists followed the basic principle that

the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Inother words, the whole (a picture, a car) carried adifferent and altogether greater meaning than itsindividual components (paint, canvas, brush; ortire, paint, metal, respectively). In viewing the"whole," a cognitive process takes place the

mind makes a leap from comprehending the partsto realizing the whole,

We visually and psychologically attempt to makeorder out of chaos, to create harmony or structurefrom seemingly disconnected bits of information.

The prominent founders of Gestalt theory are MaxWertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler, and Kurt Koffka.

1. Figure/Ground


2/20


3/20

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Everything that is not figure is ground.

As our attention shifts, the ground also shifts sothat an object can go from figure to ground andthen back.Ground is sometimes thought of as background ornegative space.

Figure-ground refers to the relationship betweenan object and its surround. Sometimes the

relationship is stable, meaning that it is easy topick out the figure from the ground.

Henri Matisse

La Danse (I)1909 8'6 1/2" x 12'9 1/2" (259.7 x

390.1 cm),

La Musique 1910, Dance (II) 1910, 8'5 3/8" x 12'91/4" (260 x 389 cm)
http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/dance_hermitage.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/matisse_music.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/matisse_dance_moma.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/MOULIN~1.jpg


4/20

Dance (II) 1910, 8' 5 5/8" x 12' 9 1/2" (260 x 391cm)

Other times the relationship is unstable, meaning is difficult to pick out the figure from the ground.Rarely, the relationship is ambiguous, meaningthat the figure could be the ground or vice-versa.

Tips

Clearly differentiate between figure and ground inorder to focus attention and minimize perceptualconfusion.

CamouflageCamouflage is the deliberate alteration of figure-ground so that the figure blends into the ground.
http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/Ambassadeurs%20Aristide%20Bruant.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/escher53.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/Sky%20and%20Water%20II1938.jpg


5/20

During the Gulf War, all tanks had to be repaintedfrom a woodland camouflage pattern to a desertcamouflage pattern because camouflage is terrainspecific. That specificity is also evident when onegoes to purchase camouflage clothing; it comes inseveral patterns, each best suited to particularenvironments or seasons.

Camouflage material may have a single color, or i

may have several similarly colored patches mixedtogether. The reason for using this sort of patternis that it is visually disruptive. The meanderinglines of the mottled camouflage pattern help hidethe contour -- the outline -- of the body. When youlook at a piece of mottled camouflage in a

matching environment, your brain naturally"connects" the lines of the colored blotches withthe lines of the trees, ground, leaves and shadowsThis affects the way you perceive and recognizethe person or object wearing that camouflage.

Grant Wood helped develop the US military'scamouflage during World War I.
http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/Cam4.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/2c.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/3a.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/phrynocephalusbig3.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/Cam3.jpg


6/20

Dali, "L'imagedisparait," 1938.

The Camouflage House

Desire

Palmen

2. Similarity

Gestalt theory states that things which share visua

characteristics such as shape, size, color, texture,or value will be seen as belonging together in theviewers mind.
http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/01Camouflage.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/jerusalem-tractor.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/jerusalem-non.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/boekenkast.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/atelier.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/tramshelter.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/zebra.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/floor.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/stairs.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/parkbench2.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/6877yfp.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/green.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/grass-covered-car.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/1869911835_7f1e829162_o.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/DaliImageDisparait_med.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/african.gifhttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/findtheman.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/waldo.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/Fridge.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/urban-camo-b.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Balance/american-gothic-large4.jpg


7/20

In the graphic below, the viewer is likely to discerna shape in the middle, though each individualobject is the same color.

Repetition of forms or colors in a composition ispleasing in much the same way rhythm is pleasingin music the forms aren't necessarily identical -there may be tremendous variety within therepetition, yet the correspondence will still bediscernable.

Like static and dynamic tension a deliberate useof similarity in composition can impart meaning tothe viewer that is independent of the subject matteof the image.

Similarity or repetition in an image often hasconnotations of harmony and interrelatedness, orrhythm and movement.
http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Lec3/simShape.gifhttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/1.jpg


8/20

Ilse Bing

good composition: regardless of the subjectmatter, makes some use of similarity in arrangingelements and space for aesthetic advantage.

Rptition d'un Ballet. 1874Carol Golemboski

In Edgar Degas' The Millinery Shop notice therepetition of the circle motif. Circles representobjects such as hats, flowers, bows, the woman's

head, bosom, and skirt, etc. The painting is awhole design of circles broken by a few verticals(the hat stand, the ribbons, the back draperies)and a triangle or two (the table, the woman's ventarm, and the front hat's ribbons).

Edgar Degas The Millinery Shop. 1879-1884
http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/The%20Millinery%20Shop.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Collage/CG3.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/52-18.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/repetition.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/artwork_images_478_163396_Ilse-Bing.jpg


9/20


10/20

enhance their meaning (it also depends on acorrect order for comprehension).

Grouping the words also changes the visual andpsychological meaning of the composition in non-verbal ways unrelated to their meaning.

Elements which are grouped together create theillusion of shapes or planes in space, even if theelements are not touching.

Grouping of this sort can be achieved with:

Tone / value

Color

ShapeSize

Or other physical attributes

The painting by Thomas P. Anshutz of workers ontheir lunch break shows the idea in composition.The lighter elements of the workers' upper bodies


11/20

contrast with the generally darker background.These light elements are not placed aimlesslyaround the composition but, by proximity, arearranged carefully to unite visually. Arms stretchand reach out to touch or overlap adjoining figuresso the bodies form a large horizontal unitstretching across the painting.

Thomas P. Anshutz. The Ironworkers'Noontime

Michelangelo, Creation of Adam, c. 1510. Sistine

Chapel, Rome.

Michelangelo's Creation of Adam demonstrates thexpressive power of proximity.

4. Closure

The satisfaction of a pattern encoded, as it were,into the brain, thus triggering recognition of thestimulus. This can involve the brain's provision of
http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/creation-adam-detail.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/creation-adam.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/AnshutzT1880TheIronworkersNoontime2.jpg


12/20

missing details thought to be a part of a potentialpattern, or, once closure is achieved, theelimination of details unnecessary to establish apattern match.

Closure is the effect of suggesting a visualconnection or continuity between sets of elementswhich do not actually touch each other in acomposition.

The principle of closure applies when we tend tosee complete figures even when part of theinformation is missing.

Closure occurs when elements in a compositionare aligned in such a way that the viewer perceivethat "the information could be connected."

Kanizsa Illusion

Imaginary lines called vectors, or shapes calledcounter forms, are generated by theserelationships, which the eye understands as part o
http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Lec3/closure.gif


13/20

the composition even though there is "nothingthere.

Vectors and counter forms exert forces andtensions that are as real in defining its underlyingstructure as the elements that are visible.

Linear vectors direct the path of the eye throughthe composition and determine where the eye willgo once it is attracted by the prominent features othe composition.

A vector can be straight or curved, depending onthe relationships that form it.

Counter forms, (or negative spaces), determineto a great extent whether or not the compositionwill be perceived as a harmonious whole. Counterforms "echo" the positive visual elements with"similarity," or create powerful substructures thatsupport and connect visible elements.
http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Space/Untitled-1.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Space/The%20Great%20Wave%20Off%20Kanagawa%20copy%203.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Space/The%20Great%20Wave%20Off%20Kanagawa%20copy%202.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Space/The%20Great%20Wave%20Off%20Kanagawa%20copy.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Space/The%20Great%20Wave%20Off%20Kanagawa.jpg


14/20

Katsushika Hokusai The Great Wave OffKanagawaFrom "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji"; 1823-29

Closure can be thought of as the tension or "gluethat holds a two-dimensional structure together.

5. Good Continuation (Continuity)

This Gestalt law states that learners "tend tocontinue shapes beyond their ending points".

The edge of one shape will continue into the spac

and meet up with other shapes or the edge of thepicture plane.

The example below illustrates that learners aremore apt to follow the direction of an establishedpattern rather than deviate from it.

We perceive the figure as two crossed linesinstead of 4 lines meeting at the center.


15/20

Continuity in the form of a line, an edge, or adirection from one form to another creates a fluidconnection among compositional parts.

In Degas' drawing the line of the round tub starts athe bather's hairline, meets her fingertips, and jointhe vertical line of the shelf where the brush handloverlaps. The circular shape of the bather's hips istangential to the same shelf edge. The objects on

the shelf barely touch and carry the eye from oneto another.

Edgar Degas, The Tub, 1886. Pastel

6. Symmetry or Order
http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Gestalt/degas59.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Lec3/Continuity.gif


16/20

Symmetry states that the viewer should not begiven the impression that something is out ofbalance, or missing, or wrong.

If an object is asymmetrical, the viewer will wastetime trying to find the problem instead ofconcentrating on the instruction.

Order has connotations of stability, consistencyand structure.

An orderly arrangement of elements hasconnotations that will be perceived either positivelor negatively by a viewer depending on thepurpose of the communication and the viewer'spersonality.

Utilitarian information (instructional or technicaldesign) will be more effective if the presentation isorderly, especially if it must be comprehendedquickly.

traffic signs

sets of instructions

reference books


17/20

Texts and illustrative material may also need tobe orderly; especially if the organizationsponsoring the communication wishes to beperceived as orderly and well run (annual reportsare typically clean, orderly documents).

People are accustomed to receiving informationin a systematic and organized manner and will befrustrated by material that requires too much work

to comprehend.

Some viewers associate order with institutionalrigidity or social conservatism and will reject or be"bored" by communications that seem too highlystructured.

Developing judgment about audiencepreferences and tolerances with respect to order icentral to the designer's task.

The goal is to be structured and equallyengaging.
http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/212Lec3/taj4.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/212Lec3/taj5.jpg


18/20
http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/212Lec3/pinwheel8.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Proportion/Untitled-2232323.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/212Lec3/Pinwheel.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/212Lec3/pinwheelcons.jpghttp://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/212Lec3/pinwheel7.jpg


19/20

The Gestalt Principles

SIMILARITY / CONTINUATION / CLOSURE / PROXTY / FIGURE & GROUND

Gestalt is a psychology term which means "unifiedwhole". It refers to theories of visual perceptiondeveloped by German psychologists in the 1920s.These theories attempt to describe how people tend organize visual elements into groups or unified whole

when certain principles are applied. These principlesare:

Similarity

Similarity occurs when objects look similar to oneanother. People often perceive them as a group or

pattern.

The example above (containing 11 distinct objects)appears as as single unit because all of the shapes

have similarity.
http://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm#similarity%23similarityhttp://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm#continuation%23continuationhttp://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm#closure%23closurehttp://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm#proximity%23proximityhttp://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm#proximity%23proximityhttp://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm#figureground%23figuregroundhttp://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm#similarity%23similarityhttp://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm#continuation%23continuationhttp://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm#closure%23closurehttp://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm#proximity%23proximityhttp://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm#proximity%23proximityhttp://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm#figureground%23figureground


20/20
http://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm#similarity%23similarityhttp://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm#continuation%23continuationhttp://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm#closure%23closurehttp://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm#figureground%23figuregroundhttp://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm#top%23top

the gestalt principles

Documents