About Gestalt Theory
Gestalt is a psychological theory of perception developed by Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler, and Kurt Koffka, based on the way the human mind creates complete structures out of incomplete elements. Gestalt, meaning “a unified or meaningful whole,” states that we perceive whole events rather than a series of individual ones. For example, we perceive a string of lights flashing in rapid succession as motion instead of noticing each individual flash. That is, we perceive an event as more than the sum of its parts. Moreover, Gestalt theory says that we are naturally drawn to things with “good Gestalt”. The six principles of Gestalt explain how “good Gestalt” allows us to design effective documents.
Six Principles of Gestalt
A document’s appearance has a significant impact on its effectiveness, but it is often difficult to pinpoint the elements that influence this effectiveness. Gestalt principles offer a way to explain why documents are or are not effective, as well as a way to develop strategies for producing effective documents.
Figure-Ground Segregation
A figure is “a shape that is perceived as being in front of or surrounded by a hom*ogeneous background”. Figure-ground segregation suggests that in order for humans to perceive a figure, it must be sufficiently distinct from its background. In document design, figure-ground segregation is important because it allows the user to extract information on the most basic level; for example, distinguishing text or a graphic from the page itself.
Example: A document with clear black text or colorful graphics against a white background has good figure-ground segregation. On the other hand, a document with a light-blue background and medium blue text has weak figure-ground segregation; there is not enough of a contrast between the two colors to distinguish the text from the page.
Symmetry
Symmetry refers to “the perception of balance in the ‘size, shape, and relative position of parts on opposite sides of a dividing line’”. In terms of document design, symmetry provides balance and gives the user a sense of order—where in the document to begin processing the information. Conversely, asymmetry in document design creates confusion for the user, forcing him or her to work harder to process the information in the document and understand it.
Example: A document with graphics that are not aligned or that uses white space irregularly is imbalanced and confuses users. Symmetry creates a visual hierarchy and organization. At the same time, a perfectly symmetrical document may appear “too perfect” or amateurish. While certain visual elements, like a set of headings in a menu bar, may benefit from symmetry, most documents as a whole are not perfectly symmetrical. Understanding the rules of symmetry allows a document designer break the rules to his or her advantage, creating a visually-appealing and rhetorically successful document.
Closure
To the user of a document, closed areas signify association—text and graphics in a closed area naturally appear to go together. If the information (text or graphics) is not enclosed or does not have good closure, it will be more difficult to determine where information belongs and what information it is associated with.
Example: Moore and Fitz provide a good example of the problems that can occur as a result of bad closure:
Lack of closure is often a problem when visuals are integrated into a text. If the visual is full of text itself, (e.g., a table of data…) and the visual has text above it or below it on the page, then the reader may not be able to see readily where the surrounding text breaks off and the visual begins.
The solution to the problem of bad closure may be as simple as adding some vertical or horizontal lines to create closure.
Proximity
Simply put, the principle of proximity suggests that users will associate visual elements that are near to each other. Placing unrelated items in close proximity to one another may confuse users, as can placing related items too far apart.
Example: The placement of headings is a common proximity problem. If the heading for one visual in a document is placed too close to another visual, it is easy for the user to associate the heading with the wrong visual and become confused.
Good Continuation
According to Moore and Fitz, “the law of good continuation says that, other things being equal, human perception tends to continue a shape or form beyond its terminal point”. For example, we will mentally “complete” a curve so that we perceive a circle, even if we can only actually see a segment of it.
Examples: The law of good continuation can work against document design in the case of “rivers”—when text is improperly spaced and the spaces in several rows of text align, the user will perceive odd “rivers” of white space throughout the text. In another example, Moore and Fitz suggest that the law of good continuation is particularly significant in designing tables—“the vertical line of the table must be continuous”.
Similarity
According to Bernhardt, the law of similarity “suggests that units which resemble each other in shape, size, color, or direction will be seen together as a hom*ogenous grouping”. That is, a user will naturally associate things that look alike.
Example: The use of typefaces is a good example of the law of similarity. Text in the same typeface appears to go together, whereas a change of typeface seems to denote a separation. Using different typefaces haphazardly or “for fun” can confuse users.
Gestalt Theory and Visual Rhetoric
Gestalt theory offers a way to analyze document design from the perspective of a user’s cognitive interaction with a document, and to understand why the rhetoric of document design either succeeds or fails. A writer’s failure to follow the laws of Gestalt can result in a user’s dislike of or confusion toward a document—thus, a failure of rhetoric can stem from “bad Gestalt.”
The Gestalt theory is an approach that attempts to create a comprehensive understanding of how humans perceive images. The theory suggests “that we don’t just see edges, colors, brightness, and shapes — we see fruit, or a tree, or a dog. In other words, we experience what we see as a whole” (Kimball and Hawkins, 2008, p. 42).
The Gestalt theory has three significant concepts, which are known as the Gestalt laws of perception. The laws are as follows:
- Figure-ground discrimination
- Laws of grouping
- Good figure
These concepts are important to the design of icons and symbols because in order for the icon or symbol to be effective it has to be easy to identify and distinguish in right the context, i.e., contrasted properly with other similar icons or symbols that are displayed well.
Applying the Gestalt theory to graphic design is important because the principles are easy to apply. It attempts to prove why humans perceive things in certain ways. Of course, this theory is generalized; not everyone sees things exactly the same way, but it is helpful when designing on-screen graphics. The generalization is one of the reasons why we have also examined icons cross-culturally because not everyone perceives or reacts to images the same way.
Source: Kimball, M.A., & Hawkins, A.R. (2008).Document Design: A Guide for Technical Communicators. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
