Gestalt Principles

What does Gestalt mean?

Gestalt , loosely translated into English, means “shape” or “form”

What do you see in this picture?
 Octavio Ocampo

In an image, we can study the relationship between its elements,

separately or together, to develop the message we want to transmit to
the receiver.
 Octavio Ocampo

“The whole is greater than the sum of the

parts”
This phrase is often used when explaining Gestalt principles.
 Octavio Ocampo

Gestalt Principles are about perception and

reality.
 X
What do you see in this
picture?
 Have you seen the letter X or four lines?
Surely everyone has seen the same: the letter X

Why?
Because we tend to see shapes as simple as possible

Gestalt principles help us understand the way we see.

 Principles of Gestalt can be helpful to find out how visual
perceiving works and why some images work better than
others.

So we are going to see what the Gestalt Laws are,

which are its rules and why they are so important for
designers in Marketing?

The close relationship between Gestalt Principles & Design

 Why are Gestalt Laws so important?

Gestalt Principles can really help in focusing

attention and organizing contents in an effective
way.
The main Gestalt Laws are:

• Law of Proximity
• Law of Similarity.
• Law of Figure and Ground.
• Law of Continuity
• Law of Closure
• Law of Simplicity
 Law of Proximity
Elements that are placed close to each other will often
be perceived as one group.
When the dots are placed close
to each other in groups, we
tend to perceive 3 columns
rather than a whole group of
dots.
 Law of Proximity
Elements that are placed close to each other will often
be perceived as one group.
 Law of Proximity applied to real design.
Elements that are placed close to each other will often
be perceived as one group.

This is Mystery Island's logo, created by Gert van Duinen. In an easy

and brilliant way the designer uses the proximity law to create a shape
of an island and its reflection on the sea. This is the perfect
combination of the brand name and the customer activity, dance music
producer. The lines creating the island are clearly recognizable as
 Law of Proximity applied to real design.
Elements that are placed close to each other
will often be perceived as one group.

Again, in the Foodmobile logo we can see a group of

single objects, representing types of food (bread, fish,
vegetables are clearly recognizable) which, grouped for
proximity, create a car shape.
 Law of Similarity
Objects that look alike, with similar components or
attributes, are more likely to be organised together.

Objects are viewed in

vertical rows because
of their similar
attributes.
 Law of Similarity
Objects that look alike, with similar components or
attributes, are more likely to be organised together.
 Law of Similarity
Objects that look alike, with similar components or
attributes, are more likely to be organised together.

The visual part of the Capture logo (created by

Quadrika) shares with the textual part a kind of
viewfinder which is the same of the C and E
 Law of Continuity
Objects will be grouped as a whole if they are co-linear,
or follow a direction

For example, these dots In the image above we perceive a

arranged in a line are long “line” created from the
considered related elements. lighter dots. On the other hand, the
“line” created from the darker
dots is perceived as interrupted.
 Law of Continuity
Objects will be grouped as a whole if they are co-linear, or follow a
direction
 Law of Continuity
Objects will be grouped as a whole if they are co-linear, or follow a
direction
Law of Continuity applied to real design.
Objects will be grouped as a whole if they are co-linear, or
follow a direction

We can read the letters in the background but we

imagine that it's the same word as in the foreground.
Law of Figure and Ground
Viewers will perceive an object (figure) and a surface (ground)
even in shapes are grouped together.
 Law of Figure and Ground
Viewers will perceive an object (figure) and a surface
(ground) even in shapes are grouped together.
 Law of Figure and Ground
Viewers will perceive an object (figure) and a surface
(ground) even in shapes are grouped together.
 Law of Figure and Ground applied to real design.
Viewers will perceive an object (figure) and a surface (ground)
even in shapes are grouped together.

By following the Figure-Ground Law in the Feathers & Fur logo,

designed for a pet store from Lumo, the observer can recognize a
parrot and a dog’s face into the mark.
 Law of Figure and Ground applied to real design.
Viewers will perceive an object (figure) and a surface (ground) even in
shapes are grouped together.
 Law of Closure
In perception there is the tendency to complete unfinished
objects. We tend to ignore gaps and complete contour lines.
 Law of Closure
In perception there is the tendency to complete unfinished
objects. We tend to ignore gaps and complete contour lines.
 Law of Closure applied to real design.
In perception there is the tendency to complete unfinished
objects. We tend to ignore gaps and complete contour lines.

An extremely famous logo based on closure is the

WWF Panda
 Law of Closure applied to real design.
In perception there is the tendency to complete unfinished
objects. We tend to ignore gaps and complete contour
lines.

The IBM logo, composed by eight solid lines separated

by empty space, is based on closure law. The three letters
are not really there. Our brain perceives them by closing
the letters shape.
 Law of Simplicity
Figures are seen as their simple elements instead of
complicated shapes.
 Law of Simplicity applied to real design.
Figures are seen as their simple elements instead of complicated
shapes.