GESTALT PRINCIPLES IN ART AND DESIGN

From the German word Form

Max Wertheimer and Rudolf Arnheim 1920s in Germany Art and Visual Perception

Concise Defintion: Gestalt refers to the concept that the whole “togetherness” of something is greater than the sum of its individual parts.  It is the total concept of the item being created – rather than just thinking of the separate pieces that make up the item.

Similarity The principle of similarity states that things which share visual characteristics such as shape, size, color, texture, value or orientation will be seen as belonging together.

Tumbler Icons: exhibit SIMILARITY

Continuation   This Gestalt law states that learners "tend to continue shapes beyond their ending points". Continuation occurs when the eye is compelled to move through one object and continue to another object. The example below illustrates that learners are more apt to follow the direction of an established pattern rather than deviate from it.  We perceive the figure as two crossed lines instead of 4 lines meeting at the center.

Closure Closure is the brain completing what is suggested or implied. It takes the information available and completes it, though not all of the information is presented.

Robert Morris

Figure/Ground The term figure-ground perception is used to describe the tendency of the visual system to simplify a scene into the main object that we are looking at (the figure) and everything else that forms the background (or ground).

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

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.