|
Visual Communication
Gestalt: An Artist's Dream
Tim McCreight, the author of
Design Language, wrote: “Our need for wholeness is
so great we assemble elements into as large a unit
as possible. We will see a row of dots as a dotted
line rather than a collection of small marks”
(1996). Surprisingly, *gestalt* is not the name of
the person who discovered the series of visual
perceptions that are now known as design laws.
Instead, the word *gestalt* means “form or shape.”
The
gestalt theory originated with Wertheimer, and he
believed the human brain predictably organizes and
groups forms and shapes by grouping them in certain
ways. Gestalt theory includes: “the law of
similarity, the law of proximity, the law of
continuation, and the law of common fate” according
to Paul Martin Lester, the author of Visual
Communication.
The
gestalt theory originated with Wertheimer, and he
believed the human brain predictably organizes and
groups forms and shapes by grouping them in certain
ways. Gestalt theory includes: “the law of
similarity, the law of proximity, the law of
continuation, and the law of common fate” according
to Paul Martin Lester, the author of Visual
Communication.
Gestalt
psychologists
continued
Wertheimer’s work
which began back in
the 1920’s. For
artists to know how
the mind sees and
organizes visual
information is so
helpful. Improved
understanding of how
designs and patterns
are viewed as a
whole and not
strictly by the
parts is helpful to
artists, because
they can use these
laws as guidelines
as they work.
Due to this study,
an artist has a
better idea as to
how much or how
little information
should be in their
graphic designs and
artwork. The
knowledge of gestalt
lets artists and
designers know they
don’t have to
include every bit of
information as they
design, because the
human mind completes
the missing parts
and details by
grouping,
connecting, and
separating the
varying shapes and
forms.
|
