2. A QUICK DEFINITION
The word "gestalt” is German for "shape or form”.
Psychologist Max Wertheimer developed this theory of the mind and
cognition in 1910. He noticed how visual meaning can be fluid, with the
same image open to various cognitive interpretations.This made him, and
others, wonder how exactly it is that people construct meaning when
confronted with visual stimuli.
The purpose of gestalt theory is to describe how people gather meaning
from the things they perceive in the chaotic world around them.The
central argument this theory advances is that you do not perceive an
object only as the sum of its parts, but rather as something unto itself.
Max Wertiheimer | 1880 - 1943
3. 4 Principles that have been
observed in gestalt systems:
• Emergence
• Reification
• Multistability
• Invariance.
Visual Design
Together these four principles help to
explain how people derive meaning from
the visual stimuli we encounter.
Conceptual
6. REIFICATION
The principle of
reification is
constructive or
generative, since
it implies that
meaning is
created where
there isn't
necessarily
meaning to be
found.
10. INVARIANCE
Invariance is the
ability to see
connections
between
geometric shapes
and figures
despite the
images being
distorted or
changed, even
significantly.