In the 1920s, German psychologists Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Kohler formulated the Gestalt Principles with the aim of comprehending how individuals organize and interpret the complex stimuli they encounter visually and auditorily.
Their focus was on unraveling the mystery of how people make sense of seemingly chaotic sensory inputs. To address this, they identified a set of principles that elucidate the innate human tendency to impose order on disorder. Essentially, the mind processes visual and auditory stimuli by perceiving a collection of individual elements as a unified whole.
Gestalt Principles found swift adoption among graphic designers who leveraged them to craft visually appealing designs characterized by strategically placed elements.
Essential to visual design, Gestalt Principles encompass over ten interrelated principles, with some being more commonly applied than others.
1. Emergence: Central to Gestalt thinking, the principle of emergence reflects our ability to perceive and understand the world without the need for exhaustive analysis of every minute detail. This rapid cognitive processing is crucial for survival, as spending excessive time analyzing our surroundings would have left our ancestors vulnerable to swift attacks from wild animals. We connect the dots and the Dalmatian emerges from the seemingly random scene.
2. Closure: We prefer complete shapes, so we automatically fill the gaps between elements to perceive a complete image. That’s how we can see the whole first. You can use closure creatively to gain users‘ trust and admiration. Users will appreciate it when they see pleasing „wholes“ made from cleverly placed elements like lines, dots, or shapes.
3. Common Region: We categorize elements within a shared enclosed area as a single group. To incorporate this principle into your interfaces, organize related objects together within a defined space to visually indicate their separation from other groups.
4. Continuity or Continuation: The Gestalt principle of continuity asserts that we tend to group elements that appear to form a continuous path in a specific direction. When observing a design, the human eye naturally tracks paths, lines, and curves, favoring a sense of uninterrupted visual flow over disjointed objects. Even when an obstacle conceals the path or visual elements intersect, the human eye persists in following the trajectory.
5. Proximity:We categorize elements that are closer together, distinguishing them from those positioned farther apart. When you assemble elements into groups within your design, users perceive them as a cohesive entity on the screen.
6. Multistability: When images possess ambiguity and offer two or more valid interpretations, we undergo the experience of alternating between these meanings. It’s not possible for us to perceive all the potential versions simultaneously. This phenomenon of transitioning between interpretations is referred to as multistability.
7. Figure/Ground: Our aversion to uncertainty leads us to seek out elements that convey solidity and stability. Except in cases of ambiguity, such as the iconic Rubin’s Vase, our initial perception tends to focus on the foreground of an image. The concept of figure/ground can be applied in various ways, primarily through contrasting elements—like employing light text (figure) against a dark background (ground). Effectively utilizing figure/ground, along with considerations like color theory, aids in guiding users through tasks and reducing cognitive load.
8. Invariance: The Gestalt principle of invariance elucidates our ability to perceive fundamental shapes as unchanged despite undergoing various transformations. These transformations encompass rotations, movements, changes in size, stretching, different lighting conditions, and alterations in parts. This principle plays a pivotal role in facial recognition. Through invariance, we can identify our friends and family members from a distance, different perspectives, or even when they make amusing facial expressions.
9. Pragnanz: Pragnanz captures the human inclination to simplify complexity. In a world where our senses are consistently inundated with stimuli, and our attention and processing capacity are limited, Pragnanz aids us in perceiving order and regularity amidst the visual competition.
10. Similarity: When items, objects, or elements exhibit shared superficial characteristics, we interpret them as belonging to the same group. The principle of similarity is evident in branding and design system guidelines.
11. Symmetry and Order: Humans tend to see visual elements as grouped when they are arranged symmetrically. The natural world is filled with symmetry (or near symmetry), and our brains tend to favor symmetrical forms. Grid systems that evenly divide the space help designers implement symmetry and order in user interfaces.
12. Common Fate: This principle denotes the human inclination to perceive visual elements moving in the same direction or synchronously as part of a group. Movement isn’t limited to actual motion; cues such as arrows or rotation angles can signify the perceived direction of movement among the elements.
Sources: Interaction Design Foundation – IxDF. (2016, August 30). What are the Gestalt Principles?. Interaction Design Foundation – IxDF. https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/gestalt-principles
