Gestalt principles

Gestalt Principles

SIMILARITY / CONTINUATION / CLOSURE / PROXIMITY / FIGURE & GROUND

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:

Similarity

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

Unity occurs because the triangular shapes at the bottom of the eagle symbol look similar to the shapes that form the sunburst.

When similarity occurs, an object can be emphasised if it is dissimilar to the others. This is called anomally.

SIMILARITY / CONTINUATION / CLOSURE / PROXIMITY / FIGURE & GROUND / TOP

Continuation occurs when the eye is compelled to move through one object and continue to another object.

Closure

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 infomation.

Proximity

Proximity occurs when elements are placed close together. They tend to be perceived as a group.

Figure and Ground

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 as ground (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.