Gestalt is the German word for “form, shape, pattern, or configuration. Understanding how the eye and mind work together to perceive and organize visuals is important for any designer.

1. GESTALT
VISUAL PERCEPTION =
Mind + Eye
Saad Aqeel Alzarooni
2012
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2. G E S TA LT
A THEORY OF PERCEPTION
It centers around the recognition that the whole is more
than the sum of its parts.
© SaadAqeelZ.2012
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3. Gestalt theory is widely accepted
psychological study on the subject of
human perception of visual elements.
Basically, the theory states that human
naturally look for order or a relationship
between various elements. They
observe and analyze individual parts of
an image as separate components and
have the tendency to group these parts
into a larger image that may be very
different from the components.
Hashimoto and Clayton (2009): Visual Design Fundamentals.
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4. Different parts
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5. The unified whole is different from the sum of the parts
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6. G E S TA LT
SIX PRINCIPALS
1. Closure
2. Proximity
3. Continuity
4. Similarity
5. Figure and ground
6. Symmetry
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7. 4
similarity
1 2 3 5
closure proximity continuation figure and ground
(tree within the letter A)
symmetry
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Gestalt’s Principles of Visual Perception
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8. 1. CLOSURE
It occurs when gaps appear between shapes, people tend to mentally
close those gaps and form a perception of a whole object.
SAAD
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9. 2. PROXIMITY
Objects placed close together are often perceived as a group.
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10. 3. CONTINUATION
It occurs when the human eyes follow the direction from one object to
another, perceiving separate objects as one.
SAAD
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11. 4. SIMILARITY
Similar objects are often perceived as a group.
SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD
SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD
SAAD
SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD
SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD
SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD
SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD
SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD
SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD
SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD
SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD
SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD
SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD SAAD
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12. 5. FIGURE/GROUND
Different shapes that are formed by the figure and background.
© SaadAqeelZ.2012
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13. 6. SYMMETRY
Symmetry is defined as the exact reflection of form on opposite sides of a
dividing line or plane.
SAAD
S D
AA
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14. saad aqeel alzarooni
Saad is passionate social designer and
ethnographic researcher. His current
research interests fall mainly in applied
knowledge modeling for planning and
evaluation and visual thinking for design
research.
Links:
linkedin.com/in/saadaqeelalzarooni
contextualresearch.wordpress.com
ideaviz.wordpress.com
saadaqeelalzarooni.wordpress.com
issuu.com/saadaqeel
© 2012 s a a d a q e e l a z l a r o o n i

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© 2012 s a a d a q e e l a z l a r o o n i
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