Design Principles: Visual Perception And The Principles Of Gestalt — Smashing Magazine 13/09/24, 12:57

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Design Principles: Visual Perception And The

Principles Of Gestalt
Q U I C K S U M M A RY ↬ Gestalt principles are important to understand. They sit at the foundation of
everything we do visually as designers. They describe how everyone visually perceives objects. This
article is part of a new series about design principles that can serve both as a refresher for seasoned
designers and reference for newcomers to the industry. Hopefully, the content covered here isn’t too
obvious and self-explanatory, but it’s always great to have a nice quick refresher every now and
again, isn’t it?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

In 1910, psychologist Max Wertheimer had an insight (↦ Steven Bradley is the author of De
https://www.leonardo.info/isast/articles/behrens.html) when he observed a series of lights flashing on and Fundamentals: Elements, Attribut

off at a railroad crossing. It was similar to how the lights encircling a movie theater marquee Principles (↦
https://www.vanseodesign.com/download
flash on and off.
design-fundamentals/) and CSS Anima
and Transitions for the Modern W
To the observer, it appears as if a single light moves around the marquee, traveling from bulb to bulb, https://www.amazon.com/CSS-Animation
when in reality it’s a series of bulbs turning on and off and the lights don’t move it all. Transitions-Modern-Web/dp/0133980502/
When not … More about Steven
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This observation led to a set of descriptive principles about how we visually perceive objects. These https://www.smashingmagazine.com/the-sm
principles sit at the heart of nearly everything we do graphically as designers. newsletter/).
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This is the start of a series of posts about design principles. It begins with these principles of gestalt (↦
https://www.vanseodesign.com/web-design/gestalt-principles-of-perception/), because many of the design principles
we follow arise out of gestalt theory. In this post, I’ll walk you through a little bit of theory and offer
some basic definitions of gestalt principles.

Future posts in this series will consider aspects of design like space, balance and visual hierarchy. In
upcoming posts, I’ll point out which gestalt principles influence the aspects of design being discussed,
and I’ll offer more practical uses and examples of how the gestalt principles are used in Web design.

The Key Ideas Behind Gestalt Theory # (↦ #The-Key-Ideas-Behind-

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Design Principles: Visual Perception And The Principles Of Gestalt — Smashing Magazine 13/09/24, 12:57

The Key Ideas Behind Gestalt Theory # (↦ #The-Key-Ideas-Behind-

Gestalt-Theory)

“The whole is other than the sum of the parts.” — Kurt Koffka

The quote above is gestalt in a nutshell. When human beings see a group of objects, we perceive their
entirety before we see the individual objects. We see the whole as more than the sum of the parts, and
even when the parts are entirely separate entities, we’ll look to group them as some whole. There are
several key ideas behind gestalt and gestalt therapy (↦ https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/therapy/what-are-gestalt-
therapy-techniques/).

EMERGENCE (THE WHOLE IS IDENTIFIED BEFORE THE PARTS) # (↦

#EMERGENCE-THE-WHOLE-IS-IDENTIFIED-BEFORE-THE-PARTS )

Emergence is the process of forming complex patterns from simple rules. When attempting to identify an
object, we first seek to identify its outline. We then match this outline pattern against shapes and objects
we already know to find a match. Only after the whole emerges through this outline pattern matching, do
we start to identify the parts that make up the whole.

When designing, keep in mind that people will identify elements first by their general form. A simple well
defined object will communicate more quickly than a detailed object with a hard to recognize contour.

REIFICATION (OUR MIND FILLS IN THE GAPS) # (↦ #REIFICATION-OUR-

MIND-FILLS-IN-THE-GAPS)

Reification is an aspect of perception in which the object as perceived contains more spatial information
than what is actually present. As we attempt to match what we see to the familiar patterns we have stored
in memory, there isn’t always an exact match. Instead we find a near match and then fill in the gaps of
what we think we should see.

Reification suggests that we don’t need to present the complete outline in order of viewers to see it. We
can leave out parts of the outline as long as we provide enough of it to allow for a close enough pattern
match. You can see examples of this a little further down under the principle of closure.

MULTI-STABILITY (THE MIND SEEKS TO AVOID UNCERTAINTY) # (↦

#MULTI-STABILITY-THE-MIND-SEEKS-TO-AVOID-UNCERTAINTY )

Multi-stability is the tendency of ambiguous perceptual experiences to move unstably back and forth
between alternative interpretations. Some objects can be perceived in more than one way. An example
from below in the section of figure/ground is one you’ve likely seen before. The image can be seen as
either two faces in profile or as a vase.

You can’t see both at once. Instead you bounce back and forth quickly between the two stable alternatives.
One will tend to be your dominant perception and the longer you go without begin able to see the other,
the harder it will be to see that other perception.

From a design perspective if you want to change someone’s perception, don’t try to change it all at once.

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Design Principles: Visual Perception And The Principles Of Gestalt — Smashing Magazine 13/09/24, 12:57

Find a way to get them to see an alternative. Then work to strengthen that alternative view, while
weakening the original.

INVARIANCE (WE’RE GOOD AT RECOGNIZING SIMILARITIES AND

DIFFERENCES) # (↦ #INVARIANCE-WE-RE-GOOD-AT-RECOGNIZING-SIMILARITIES-
AND-DIFFERENCES)

Invariance is a property of perception in which simple objects are recognized independent of their
rotation, translation and scale. Since we often encounter objects from different perspectives, we’ve
developed an ability to recognize them despite their different appearance.

Imagine if you could only recognize someone you knew if they stood directly in front of you and faced
you, but you couldn’t recognize them once they turned in profile. Despite the different visual perspective
we can still recognize people.

You can see these ideas in play in the principles below. The main idea is that gestalt principles are about
perception (↦ https://changingminds.org/explanations/perception/gestalt/gestalt.htm) and what is visually
communicated by objects. The principles speak to the core of the visual language within which we work.

Gestalt Principles # (↦ #Gestalt-Principles)

Most of the principles are relatively easy to understand. There’s a common theme running through many
of them.

“All else being equal, elements that are related by X tend to be grouped perceptually into higher-order
units.” — Stephen Palmer

Many of the principles below will follow this pattern. The principles either define X or the higher order
that’s perceived.

LAW OF PRÄGNANZ (GOOD FIGURE, LAW OF SIMPLICITY) # (↦ #LAW-OF-

PRÄGNANZ-GOOD-FIGURE-LAW-OF-SIMPLICITY)

“People will perceive and interpret ambiguous or complex images as the simplest form(s) possible.”

This is the fundamental principle of gestalt. We prefer things that are simple, clear and ordered.
Instinctually these things are safer. They take less time for us to process and present less dangerous

surprises.

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Law of Prägnanz (Good Figure, Law of Simplicity).

When confronted with complex shapes, we tend to reorganize them into simpler components or into a
simpler whole. You’re more likely to see the left image above composed of the simple circle, square and
triangle like you see on the right than as the the complex and ambiguous shape the whole forms.

In this case, seeing three distinct objects is simpler than seeing one complex object. In other cases, it’s
simpler to see a single object, which brings us to…

CLOSURE # (↦ #CLOSURE)

“When seeing a complex arrangement of elements, we tend to look for a single, recognizable pattern.”

As with Prägnanz, closure seeks simplicity. Closure is the opposite of what we saw in the Prägnanz image
above where three objects were simpler than one. With closure, we instead combine parts to form a
simpler whole. Our eye fills in the missing information to form the complete figure.

Closure.

In the left image above, you should see a white triangle even though the image is actually comprised of
three black Pac-Man-like shapes. On the right image, you see a panda even though the figure is several
random shapes. Seeing the triangle and panda is simpler than trying to make sense of the individual
parts.

Closure can be thought of as the glue holding elements together. It’s about the human tendency to seek
and find patterns.

The key to closure is providing enough information so the eye can fill in the rest. If too much is missing,

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The key to closure is providing enough information so the eye can fill in the rest. If too much is missing,
the elements will be seen as separate parts instead of a whole. If too much information is provided, there’s
no need for closure to occur.

SYMMETRY AND ORDER # (↦ #SYMMETRY-AND-ORDER)

“People tend to perceive objects as symmetrical shapes that form around their center.”

Symmetry gives us a feeling of solidity and order, which we tend to seek. It’s our nature to impose order
on chaos. This principle leads us to want balance in composition, though our compositions don’t need to
be perfectly symmetrical to be in balance.

Symmetry and Order.

In the image above, you should see three pairs of opening and closing brackets. The principle of proximity,
which we’ll get to later in this post, might suggest we should see something else. That suggests symmetry
takes precedence over proximity.

Since our eyes will quickly find symmetry and order, these principles can be used to effectively
communicate information quickly.

FIGURE/GROUND # (↦ #FIGURE-GROUND)

“Elements are perceived as either figure (the element in focus) or ground (the background on which the

figure rests).”

Figure/ground refers to the relationship between positive elements and negative space. The idea is that
the eye will separate whole figures from their background in order to understand what’s being seen. It’s
one of the first things people will do when looking at any composition.

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Figure and Ground.

The figure/ground relationship can be either stable or unstable depending on how easy it is to determine
which is which. The classic example of where the relationship is unstable is the left image above. You
either see a vase or two faces depending on whether you see the black color as figure and the white as
ground, or vice versa. That you can easily bounce back and forth between the two perceptions
demonstrates the unstable relationship.

The more stable the relationship, the better we can lead our audience to focus on what we want them to
see. Two related principles can help us:

Area. The smaller of two overlapping objects is seen as figure. The larger is seen as ground. You can
see this in the right image above. The smaller shape is the figure regardless of color.

Convexity. Convex rather than concave patterns tend to be perceived as figures.

UNIFORM CONNECTEDNESS # (↦ #UNIFORM-CONNECTEDNESS)

“Elements that are visually connected are perceived as more related than elements with no
connection.”

In the image below, lines connect two pairs of elements. This connection leads us to perceive that the
connected elements are related to each other in some way.

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Uniform Connectedness.

Of all the principles suggesting objects are related, uniform connectedness is the strongest. In the image
above, even though we see two squares and two circles, we see the square–circle pairs as more strongly
related because they are visually connected.

Notice that the lines don’t need to touch the elements for the connection to be perceived.

COMMON REGIONS # (↦ #COMMON-REGIONS)

“Elements are perceived as part of a group if they are located within the same closed region.”

Another way to show a connection between elements is to enclose them in some way. Everything inside
the enclosure is seen as related. Everything outside the encloser is seen as separate. The circles in the
image below are all the same, yet we see two distinct groups, with the circles in each enclosure related in
some way.

Common Regions.

The typical way to show a common region is to draw a box around the related elements like I’ve done
above. Placing the elements on a different background color than their immediate surroundings will also
work.

PROXIMITY # (↦ #PROXIMITY)

“Objects that are closer together are perceived as more related than objects that are further apart.”

Proximity is similar to common regions but uses space as the enclosure. When elements are positioned
close to one another, they are seen as part of a group rather than as individual elements. This is especially
true when the elements in the group are closer to each other than they are to any elements outside the
group.

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Proximity.

The objects don’t need to be similar in any other way beyond being grouped near each other in space in
order to be seen as having a proximity relationship.

CONTINUATION # (↦ #CONTINUATION)

“Elements arranged on a line or curve are perceived as more related than elements not on the line or
curve.”

It’s instinct to follow a river, a path or a fence line. Once you look or move in a particular direction, you
continue to look or move in that direction until you see something significant or you determine there’s
nothing significant to see.

Continuation.

Another interpretation of this principle is that we’ll continue our perception of shapes beyond their
ending points. In the image above, we see a line and curve crossing instead of four distinct line and curve
segments that meet at a single point.

COMMON FATE (SYNCHRONY) # (↦ #COMMON-FATE-SYNCHRONY)

“Elements that move in the same direction are perceived as more related than elements that are
stationary or that move in different directions.”

Regardless of how far apart the elements are placed or how dissimilar they appear, if they are seen as
moving or changing together, they’ll be perceived as being related.

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The elements don’t need to be moving for the principle of common fate to be present. It’s more that they
are seen as having a common destination. For example, if four people are clustered together, but two are
observed heading toward the right, they will be seen as having a common fate. Even if two are only looking
in the same direction, they’ll be perceived as having a common fate.

Common Fate (Synchrony).

In the image above, the arrows are enough to indicate the elements share a common fate. While
movement or change isn’t necessary, both are still a stronger indication of common fate than things like
arrows or looking in the same direction which only imply movement.

PARALLELISM # (↦ #PARALLELISM)

“Elements that are parallel to each other are seen as more related than elements not parallel to each
other.”

This principle is similar to the common fate principle above. Lines are often interpreted as pointing or
moving in some direction. Parallel lines are seen as either pointing or moving in the same direction and
are thus related.

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Parallelism.

It should be noted that for parallelism to be perceived, the lines can also be curves or shapes, though with
the latter the shapes should be somewhat line-like in order for them to appear parallel.

SIMILARITY # (↦ #SIMILARITY)

“Elements that share similar characteristics are perceived as more related than elements that don't
share those characteristics.”

Any number of characteristics can be similar: color, shape, size, texture, etc. When a viewer sees these

similar characteristics, they perceive the elements as being related due to the shared characteristics.

In the image below, red circles are seen as related to the other red circles and black circles to black circles
due to the similarity in color. Red and black circles are seen as dissimilar to each other even though they’re
all circles.

Similarity.

An obvious place to find similarity online is in the color of links. Typically, links within content will be
styled the same way, often blue and underlined. This lets the viewer know that the different pieces of text
are related. Once one is discovered to be a link, it communicates the others are also links.

FOCAL POINTS # (↦ #FOCAL-POINTS)

“Elements with a point of interest, emphasis or difference will capture and hold the viewer’s attention.”

This principle suggests that our attention will be drawn toward contrast, toward the element that is
unlike the others in some way. In the image below, your eye should be drawn to the square. It’s a different
shape and color from the other elements. I’ve also given it a drop shadow to further emphasize it.

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Focal Points.

The principle of focal points likely arises out of our need to quickly identify the unknown to alert us to
potential danger.

The principles of similarity and focal points are connected, and focal points can’t be seen without the
presence of similarity among other elements.

PAST EXPERIENCES # (↦ #PAST-EXPERIENCES)

“Elements tend to be perceived according to an observer's past experience.”

Past experience is perhaps the weakest gestalt principle. In conjunction with any of the other principles,
the other principle will dominate over the past experience principle.

Past experience is unique to the individual, so it’s difficult to make assumptions about how it will be
perceived. However, there are common experiences we all share. For example, a lot of color meaning
arises out of past experience.

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Past Experiences.

Having seen traffic lights throughout our lives, we expect red to mean stop and green to mean go. You
probably see the image above as a traffic light on its side, because of the three common colors. That’s past
experience at work.

Many of our common experiences also tend to be cultural. Color again provides examples. In some
countries, white is seen as pure and innocent and black as evil and death. In other countries, these
interpretations are reversed. Conventions can arise when the experience is commonly shared, though
again it’s important to remember that we don’t all share the same experiences.

Summary Of Gestalt # (↦ #Summary-Of-Gestalt)

Gestalt principles are important to understand. They sit at the foundation of everything we do visually as
designers. They describe how everyone visually perceives objects.

The principles above should be relatively easy to understand. For most of them, the definition and the
image are probably all you needed to understand the principle. At the same time, understanding the basic
ideas of these principles isn’t the same as understanding how they influence design.

In the coming weeks we’ll look more at how gestalt influences design. We’ll see how symmetry helps us
balance a composition and how combining focal points and similarity allows us to create a visual
hierarchy in a design.

Before we get to either, though, we’ll take a deeper look at the figure/ground relationship and consider the
space in which we place elements. That’s where I’ll pick up the series.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES # (↦ #ADDITIONAL-RESOURCES)

Visual Design Principles (↦ https://webstyleguide.com/wsg3/7-page-design/4-visual-design-principles.html)

Laws of Organization in Perceptual Forms (↦ https://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Wertheimer/Forms/forms.htm) (Max

Wertheimer)

Gestalt principles (↦ http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Gestalt_principles)

Gestalt Principles & Web Design (↦ https://pages.ucsd.edu/~jalevin/gp/)

Gestalt principles of form perception (↦ https://www.interaction-

design.org/encyclopedia/gestalt_principles_of_form_perception.html)

Gestalt Principles Applied in Design (↦ https://sixrevisions.com/web_design/gestalt-principles-applied-in-design/)

Gestalt Theory of Visual Perception (↦ http://www.users.totalise.co.uk/~kbroom/Lectures/gestalt.htm)

6 Principles of Gestalt Psychology That Can Improve Your Photography (↦

https://www.adorama.com/alc/0013706/article/6-Principles-of-Gestalt-Psychology-That-Can-Improve-Your-Photography )

I especially recommend this five-part series by Andy Rutledge.

Gestalt Principles of Perception 1: Figure Ground Relationships (↦ https://www.andyrutledge.com/gestalt-

principles-1-figure-ground-relationship.html)

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