Post-lecture (7) Thoughts: Gestalt Principles

I surfed the net and looked for more examples for Gestalt Principles to better understand it as a topic :)

Similarity:



Other than ensuring unity through similar objects, a dissimilar object can be used among the other similar objects to make it become a focal point.

Continuity:



This picture is really interesting! It reminded me once again that drawings reflect our perception of reality and sometimes we may get so caught up in communicating what's on our mind and changing the real form of an object into a drawing. In this process, the connection with the real world must never be broken and such a link can be drawn to give such a creative design as well. I hope I make sense x) In this picture, the drawing "continues" on to the real object itself.

Figure and Ground:



One obvious way to differentiate between figure and ground is the usage of CONTRASTING colours. The colour that stands out more forms the figure and the colour that is "overshadowed" becomes the ground which gives the figure its shape. Such a close relationship and interaction between the two enables the formation of a distinct picture/message/idea.



Above is yet another example whereby the ground enables the shaping of a figure, and the figure is part of what makes up the ground. For the first, the lady can be seen as it is enclosed by the pavement ground. The different in colour is obvious and makes it easy to spot her. For the second, a close-up shot of the old man can be seen as the figure lady is part of his facial features. This is a way which a figure can become part of another figure (lady is part of old man), while another figure can be part of the ground surrounding a figure (old man is around lady). Different people may see either one first, while for some, they may only see one, depending on how they identify with the figure and ground.

Closure:



The picture above depicts the face of a lady making use of a flowering plant. This example makes use of the plant as one side of the lady's face and the picture edge itself to "enclose" the face within. When a viewer tries to interpret a visual image, his or her attention is focused on what's within the "frame of view", in my words. In the "frame of view", they then try to figure out its elements. The picture frame itself helped to demarcate what should be the focus, instead of only showing the size of the picture like other pictures.

Proximity:



Close proximity of separate objects or items enables the viewer to draw a link between/among them and perceive the "grouped" image as a whole. The above picture doesn't have an outline but due to close proximity and its similarity with the object in real life, the viewer can tell that it is a dalmatian doggie. The ability to interpret such an object is dependent on the viewer's background knowledge and prior exposure to the real object as well.



Guess what the above picture is? It is a horse rider on a horse! I really couldn't interpret and make sense out of this picture until I saw the captions of the photo. Closer proximity could have been used to give the picture a more solid and unified shape. On top of that, association of the picture with a horse rider would have been easier if the viewer has experience with or see horse riders often.

:)