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Psychology of Creativity
& Aesthetics I

Creative Thinking
● The ability to generate new solutions to a specific problem
situation can be strengthened and trained.
● Five abilities of creative thinking are as followsive abilities of
inductive creative thinking are as follows (Guilfor, 1971):

p Sensitivity

p Fluency

p Flexilility

p Originality

p Elaboration

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Sensitivity

● Refers to sensitivity to a problem or situation. Some people are highly

sensitive, and if anything is missing or unusual, it will be felt very
quickly.
● Practices:
1. Pay attention to news and current affairs : establish channels for
information sources, such as new products, new technologies, new
concepts, fashion trends or new phenomena.
2. Observe the changes in the surrounding things and their reasons:
such as changes in life style and environment.
3. Dare to try new things: make your life creative.
4. Be curious: keep asking questions.
5. Regular self-reflection: write notes or diary.

Fluency
● It refers to the ability to put forward many concepts or new ideas for
the same problem or viewpoint to solve the problem.

● To describe a person with good fluency, we usually use ”speak with

eloquence, making replies rapidly and fluently, and eloquent writing.

● Practices:
1. Association of related things: such as the same structure, principle,
use, and material.

2. Association of synonyms.

3. Think without restraint: If I were... would... because....

4. Train the fluency of verbal expression.

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Flexilility
● Ability to think about the same problem from multiple angles and perspectives.
● Be flexible to change the angle of thinking at any time, that is, change the
habitual method and adopt a new way.
● Practices:
1. Forced combination: For example, pistol + lighter = a lighter in the shape of a
pistol.
2. Multi-point concentration method: use different viewpoints to solve the same
problem.
3. Divergent thinking: deduce multiple points from one point.
■ Divergent thinking with a fairy-tale way : What are stars? Is it the little angel
blowing the bubbles?
■ Divergent thinking in patterns: drawing similar patterns for one figure.

Originality

● The ability to think of new ideas that different from others ot the ability
to have a different opinion from others.
● Practice:
1. Design self-iintriducing yourself in the way likef a screenwriter, or
introduce yourself in a humorous way:
2. Design your own brand name that make people unforgettable.
3. Time-limited creation: Create unique works within a certain period of
time with existing materials.
4. Rewriting stories: using exaggeration, shortening, transformation and
other techniques to rewrite and create interesting stories.

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Elaboration
● Constantly making the conception more complete and impeccable,
emphasizing on "keep improving”, "excellence"
● The ability to add other new ideas to the original one, that is, to add, reorganize
or turn to form related concepts on the basis of original concepts, making the
concept more complete and refined.
● Practices:
1. Environmental association method: Search around the environment in a spider
web style from one thing, the more detailed the better.
2. Self-talk: train by asking and answering yourself.
3. Estimating risk: what is the worst case?
4. Precise concept exploration: play charades game
5. Take it to the next level: Improve existing items.

Factors in Individual physical and mental development

Creativity (cognition/memory/thinking/evaluation)

s:
p le ia l
)
am if ic
l Ex art
na ta l r a l/
Form aspect t io Me a tu Materials
ta (n
en ne
Examples:
r es S to en
aspect
d • Tool selection
• Realism
R ep oo
W • Expression
• Formalism
s in ic ) techniques
• Dreamy style Re ram
ce
• Amorphous form il (
So
…… r
pe
ct Pa
t ra s te r
Environment bs P la
A c
s ti
(Nature, P la Phenomena
er tri
c
(Temporal)
social, a l F ib le c
e
ti on o to
humanity....) ta Ph r ia
l
en it a te
r es D ig it em
ep os
-r mp
on Co
N
e/ ve rds ime
n al nt
m en
iz

sic nme
ot gic

Lo co
tir
Aeg d
ic

Ga erim l y
n n

Re omp
al l/em holo

Ph viro
et

Sa
lvi n a

ion
s sth

p t
-so ssio

x C en
e
a yc

e
Ps

t
lem re
ob xp
pr lf-e

Spiritual/Ideal <---> Material Reality

Se

Content aspect

Context of
time

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Creative/artistic expression
Artistic representation that has a strong Aims to represent
Representational art reference to a real-world object in visual actual objects or
experience or memory (i.e., realism paintings subjects from reality
and sculptures )
Objects in the real world are vaguely referenced Broad abstract. A term
in visual experience or memory, but their generally used to
Abstract art
depiction deviates from describe art that is not
the representation of a real image (that is, a representational or
symbolic description of its outline) based on external
reality or nature.
Work that does not depict anything from the
real world (figures, landscapes, animals, etc.)..
Non-representational art
Nonrepresentational art has no clear reference
to objects in the real world, usually express
subjective experience (i.e.,emotions or feelings)

https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/glossary/

Is beauty in the eye of the beholder?

● This attitude about art is not only common, but it is one of the central questions in
the philosophy of art: Is beauty in the eye of the beholder?
● The competing answers are these two theories:

Subjectivism Objectivism

• Beauty resides in the • Beauty resides in the

preference of the observer, objects themselves, and
and judgments about judgments about beautiful
beautiful objects have only objects have objective
subjective validity. validity.

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Is beauty in the eye of the beholder?

● Culturalism: Beauty that is neither subjective nor objective, human society
or culture shapes people’s sense of beauty.

Culturalism

Beauty resides in the preferences

of human cultures, and
judgments about beautiful objects
have mainly cultural validity.

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Is beauty in the eye of the beholder?

Aesthetics: a perceptual experience focused on the beauty of an object like a
work of art or an aspect of nature.

Aesthetics: beauty and aesthetic experience with metaphysical thinking

The interdisciplinary subject of art and psychology, mainly studies the psychological
mechanism of human beings in artistic creation and appreciation

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Iconology - Erwin Panofsky

● Known as the founder of the discipline of iconology
● Panofsky 1955 (cited under General Overviews) defines “iconography” as the study of subject
matter in the visual arts and “iconology” as an attempt to analyze the significance of that subject
matter within the culture that produced it
● Erwin Panofsky defines iconography as "a known principle in the known world", while iconology
is "an iconography turned interpretive".

The suffix of Iconography, derived from

the Greek word "graphein", refers to
descriptive things

The suffix of Inconology, derived from

the Greek word "logos", refers to
interpretative things Panofsky, E. (1955). Meaning In the visual arts

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Iconology - Erwin Panofsky

I. Pre-iconographic description
● A preliminary description of the form/image, initial decsriptions on factual
meaningand expressional meaning, such as history, social customs,
expression and form evolution style, for clear observation and description.

II. IconographicaI analysis

Study works, images, and schemas on the same theme, extend their literary
knowledge, special themes, and concepts related to stories, fables, etc.,
collect and organize, describe their nature, and analyze and summarize their
history.

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Iconology - Erwin Panofsky

III. Iconological interpretation

● Make a deep and comprehensive interpretation of intrinsic meaning or content.
● Meanings recorded in literature and historical materials or conventional symbols are
sources of identification.
● This step is still descriptive in nature, allowing us to know when and where a theme
appeared under what theme

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Iconology - Erwin Panofsky

I. Pre- Motif or pure form The theme seen
iconographic in the work and
description the meaning
directly conveyed
by the image
II. Images in a narrow Apply knowledge to explore Basic principles
IconographicaI sense, including images traditional or conventional visual or symbolic value
analysis (concepts) stories, symbols, concepts and values of art
fables expressed in iconography

III. Iconological Image content or Background meaning is the

interpretation iconology with deep integrated interpretation of form,
meaning, including the connotation and background of
artist's personality, the times
nation, culture, time,
religion, society and
other factors

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Making symbolic value of art

1. Allegories: For example, cats and butterflies commonly appeared in the same
Chinese paintings. The homonym of "old man" (same as: hat butterfly),
symbolizing longevity, wealth and auspiciousness, etc.

2. Attibutes: Use the objects that a character often holds to represent the identity
of the character; for example, the hat or shoes of the messenger god Hermes in
Greek mythology are often painted with wings.

3. Personifications: Use characters to express abstract concepts or values.

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Making symbolic value of art

4. Traditional signs and symbols:

A mark or symbol with a conventional meaning in a specific
context, such as ”V“, index and middlle fingers are upward,
representing ”victory“. Another example is traffic signals and
mathematical symbols.

5. Metaphor:
The two things are not similar, but one thing can express the
meaning or value of the other. For example, bananas and
apples.

6. Metonymy To replace the meaning and value of the original

object with something related items or attributes, such as "
wheels referring to a car”, ” White Houseà the US government”

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Gestalt psychology
● Rudolf Arnheim, who began in the 1920s to apply Gestalt
psychology to art
● Gestalt psychology, school of psychology founded in the 20th century
that provided the foundation for the modern study of perception.
● The word Gestalt comes from German, and it has two meanings:
○ one refers to the meaning of shape (shape) or form (form),
○ in psychology the word is often interpreted as “pattern” or
“configuration.”
○ the other meaning refers to the concept of ”whole ”

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Gestalt psychology
● Gestalt psychology emphasizes the holistic nature of experience and behavior, and
opposes the popular constructivist theory and behaviorist "stimulus-response" model
which Overemphasize on animal experimentation and complete rejection of mental
processes.

● Gestalt psychology believe: The wholeness is not equal to the sum of its parts,
consciousness is not equal to a collection of sensory elements.

The sum of the parts is not equal to the

wholeness, the wholeness cannot be separated,
and the whole is determined by the parts.
Conversely, the parts are also determined by the
whole

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Gestalt’s wholeness concept refers to the

ability to form shapes in our senses,
especially the visual configuration of the
whole shape, which is not a simple line or
curve.

It explains how people organize image

preferences and how to receive external
images through different types of senses
such as vision, hearing, and smell. It
provides an important perspective on human
perception research.

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When people appreciate a picture or a photograph,

each part of the picture forms an independent
visual element

If you want to impress the viewer with a deep visual

perception, there must be a certain form of
connection between elements.

The human cognitive system integrates the original

independent partial information into a whole
concept
Source: http://www.impawards.com/2012/dark_knight_rises.html

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Gestalt psychology
● In the composition of Gestalt psychology, there are four foundations:
Emergence, Reification, Multistability, and Invariance.

1. Emergence
● When we want to distinguish an object, our eyes will try to find the outline,
and then compare the memory and experience of the past to quickly
distinguish the object.

https://www.popsci.com/story/diy/dalmatian-illusion/

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2. Reification

● When our vision is stimulated and at the same time interprets the spatial
information of the external environment, our brain will try to fill these gaps
and create a message to understand the observed object..

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3. Multistability
● If an object has more than two interpretations, our vision allows us to
navigate between different interpretations. But our mind can only give one
way of interpretation at the same point of time.

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4. Invariance
No matter how the object is deformed, rotated, enlarged, or reduced, we can
judge the object through its outline or characteristics.

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Gestalt Principles
1. Figure-Ground
2. Proximity
3. Similarity
4. Closure
5. Continuation
6. Symmetry

• The principles of Gestalt can be applied in different fields, such as media,

interface, illustration, photography, advertisement, space deswign, etc., anything
related to visuals

https://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/blog/articles/gestalt-principles.htm

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Figure-Ground
● In a field with a certain configuration, some figures stand out and are easily perceived;
while while other elements form the background in a secondary position visually.

New Bedford Whaling Museum

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Figure-Ground

● 1. The besieged is the "figure".

● 2. Small area ”figure“ vs. large area "ground".
● 3. Those with high density and texture are ”figrues".
Ground ● 4. tTo shapes are arranged in an up and down row,
and the one at the bottom is likely to be a ”figure"
● 5. The shape of symmetry is easy to be a " figure ".
Figure ● 6. A convex shape can easily be a " figure ".
● 7. The simpler the shape, the easier it is to be a "
figure ".
● 8. The horizontal and vertical coordinates of a
shape are easily referred to as " figure ".
● 9. Those who have a sense of movement and
rotation are easy seen as ” figure”(those who are
easy to attract attention!)

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Proximity
● Stimuli that are close to each other in space or time are easily viewed as a whole. For
example: There are many chopsticks scattered on the table, and two of them that are
closer together tend to be regarded as a pair.

B
A

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Similarity

● Individually similar objects are considered part of a whole. Objects with similar
characteristics, whether it is its shape, color, size, arrangement, etc., as long as they
are similar, our vision will consider them as a whole

A B

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Similarity

Juran. Seeking the Tao in Autumn

Mountains. National Palace museum

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Similarity

梵谷，阿爾魯的寢室

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Similarity

Julian Cameron
Designer Designer

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• Similarity
• Proximity

Julian Cameron
Designer Designer

Album
sakanaction- documentaly

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Closure

● When our visual perception perceives an object as incomplete, our brain will still fill in
the incomplete information and regard it as a whole.

○ For example, if we draw a circle with a gap, the viewer will ignore the gap and
still see it as a closed circle.

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Closure

● The E and X in the Fedex

logo form a white arrow
● It symbolizes the speed
and accuracy of FedEx

Nicholas Julian Cameron

Designer Designer Designer

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Closure
● The triangle chocolate TOBLERONE
produced in Bern, Switzerland, is
considered to be the city of bears
● Golden Toblerone logo with a
mountain and a bear

Nicholas Julian
Designer Designer

Cameron

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Continuation

● Stimuli that can be continuous with each other to form figures, even if there is no
continuous relationship between them, people tend to combine them together and
regard them as a whole.

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Symmetry

● In order to understand the whole more easily, our vision tends to regard symmetrical
objects as a whole.

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Common fate
● When elements tend to move in the same direction, these individualelements will be
regarded as a whole.

● Moving in the same direction allows users to understand the relationship between
elements in a short time. move to one place at the same time, at the same speed, and
in the same direction, and these individual objects will be regarded as a whole.

https://vimeo.com/244965559?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=49167976

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Brand image
● Brand image is the general impression people have of a company, person, product or
service.
● The brand image dimension includes brand name, logo, slogan, association and
personality, as well as product design, service design, price, evaluation by reference
groups, advertising, packaging… etc.

● Brand Personality refers to a group of characteristics related to personality traits in a

brand. The added value beyond products and functions will shape its personality.
Therefore, in the process of consumers recognizing brands, some aspects can
capture personality traits and extend them to brands. (Aaker, 1997)

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The Dimensions of Brand Personality by Jennifer Aaker (Aaker, 1997)

Aaker, J. (1997) Dimensions of brand personality (p.352). Journal of Marketing Research, 34(3), 347-356.

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Brand name
Easy to remember Easy to read Easy to write and type

Uniqueness Include names

Positive association
(Domain Checker) (i.e.,the founder's name)

Contains industry
Stems/homonyms/rhymes category, product or Including customer value
service features

Aim at the target customer Suitable for brand

group extension/diversification

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Simplification in logo design

Trademark and
Logo

The simplification
in forms

Hsu, C. C., & Wang, W. Y. (2018). Categorization and features of simplification methods in visual design. Art and Design Review, 6(1), 12-28.

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Creative/artistic expression
Representational art
Abstract art
Non-representational art
Artistic representation that has a strong Aims to represent
reference to a real-world object in visual actual objects or
experience or memory (i.e., realism paintings subjects from reality
and sculptures )
Objects in the real world are vaguely referenced Broad abstract. A term
in visual experience or memory, but their generally used to
depiction deviates from describe art that is not
the representation of a real image (that is, a representational or
symbolic description of its outline) based on external
reality or nature.
Work that does not depict anything from the
real world (figures, landscapes, animals, etc.)..
Nonrepresentational art has no clear reference
to objects in the real world, usually express
subjective experience (i.e.,emotions or feelings)

https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/glossary/

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Psychology of shapes
● Psychology of Shapes is the visual
composition of how people perceive
different shapes.

● All the visual objects can be analyzed in

terms of shape and each shape has its
own meaning and influence people’s
minds.

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Homework: Examples of gestalt principles

Details:

● Please choose four gestalt principles, and find two examples

for the selected principles.

● File name: Name+student ID

● Page limit: 4 ppt slides

● Moodle submmision

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