Transcript Part III: Gestalt GESTALT The Visual Language: Visual language has grammar. It is based on the brain’s perceptual processes, and its organizational structure.

Part III: Gestalt
GESTALT
The Visual Language:
Visual language has grammar. It is based on the brain’s
perceptual processes, and its organizational structure is key
to stimulating viewer responses.
Random musical notes produce audible noise, random
letters or words produce literary noise (gibberish) and
lacking any cohesive structure, random visual elements
produce visual noise.
Visual elements, like notes in music or words in a sentence,
are associative in application. It is in this context that the
basic principles of perception – organization and meaning –
become operational.
GESTALT
Early Gestalt psychologists formulated laws or
principles related to the organization of visual
fields:
Proximity – Things close together unite.
Similarity – Things that resemble each other unite.
Continuity – Perceptual organization tends to move in one
direction
Closure – The brain has an innate ability to close gaps in order to
make things whole.
Equilibrium – Balance and orientation are key to meaning.
Assimilation – Past experiences create meaningful impressions.
GESTALT
Proximity
Visual elements that are close
together unite and are easily
seen as a figure.
Elements that are near to one
another join together to form
patterns or “groupings,” figures
against the ground.
GESTALT
Proximity
AFTER THE SWIM, 2004, MARJON B.
The horses in this photo appear to be in two groups.
GESTALT
Similarity
Visual elements that resemble
one another, whether in size,
shape, or color, unite to form a
homogeneous group and are
seen as a figure.
How many groups do you see?
GESTALT
Similarity
BIRDS OF DIFFERENT FEATHERS, 2004, HUUB LINTHORST
Our eye picks out the white geese from the black and our brain treats them as a group.
GESTALT
Continuity
Perceptual organization tends
to flow in one direction. We
have no difficulty following the
path of any single line or
contour even through a maze
of many overlapping lines.
Modern psychologists believe
that the orientation, or slope of
lines is a major factor of
similarity.
How many lines do you see?
GESTALT
Continuity
YELLOW BICYCLES, 2004, STEPHEN NUNNEY
This photograph succeeds because of the principle of continuity.
GESTALT
Closure
We possess an innate tendency
to perceive multiple elements as
a group or totality. If it can find
evidence of continuation, our
brain will connect disjointed
edges, contours or masses.
Closure is a confirmation by the
brain of a preexisting idea.
When we can achieve it, we are
psychologically rewarded.
Do you see two circles?
GESTALT
Closure
Although partially obscured by the plant stem, we perceive this anole as a whole figure.
GESTALT
Equilibrium
Equilibrium is a principle
which states that figures tend
to assume their most regular
form.
The brain expects occluded
objects to appear the same
as their non-occluded
counterparts.
Are the blue and red objects
overlapping? Are the figures
more like those in a or in b?
GESTALT
Equilibrium
IN PAIR, 2004, MARCELL PAÅL
We know the rear swan is just as complete as the one in front.
GESTALT
Assimilation
Assimilation is the process by
which a meaningful impression
is obtained from a vast
storehouse of past experience
and knowledge.
It is responsible for a
characteristic psychologists call
isomorphic correspondence,
such as when we recoil at the
sight of a child about to touch a
hot stove.
Which pattern at left holds more
meaning?
GESTALT
Assimilation
You are probably familiar with the item in this image and recognize it immediately.
GESTALT
Summary:
Gestalt: The Visual Language
Gestalt principles examine the ways our brain organizes
parts of the visual field into figures and grounds.
Gestalt theory proposes that patterns and groups are the
fundamental elements of perception.
Gestalt psychology unifies the concept of wholeness with
ideas of form, shape and pattern.
These concepts have provided a reliable psychological basis
for spatial organization and visual communications.
In Part I we saw how the
brain has evolved neural
processes which enhance
the perception of objects in
the visual field. Honed over
hundreds of thousands of
years, these processes have
helped to ensure our very
survival.
In Part II we visited the
concept of aesthetics and its
relationship to the golden
section and Phi, a number
intimately entwined with
nature.
And in Part III we explored
the philosophy of Gestalt
which seeks to employ the
science of perception and the
concept of aesthetics in the
language of visual
communication.
Thank You
Ted Froberg
More on The Web:
I Perception
Visual Perception
Optical Illusions
M. C. Escher
II Aesthetics
Golden Section
Fibonacci Numbers in Nature
Leonardo Fibonacci
III Gestalt
Gestalt Principles of Perception
Gestalt Principles in Design
Home
Thank You
Ted Froberg