“Knowledge is conceived as a continuous organization and rearrangement of information according to needs, purposes meanings” (Gestalt theorists)
Gestalt is a psychology term which means "unified whole". It refers to theories of visual perception developed by German psychologists in the 1920s. The attempt of these theories are to describe how we tend to arrange visual elements into groups or unified wholes when particular principles are used.
Out of many laws of Gestalt Theory, I have selected 3 laws, they are law of Proximity, Similarity and also Common Fate.
Law of Proximity
The concept underlying the concept of proximity is grouping. When we have a group of objects, we tend to look them as forming a group. Proximity occurs when elements are placed close together. They tend to be perceived as a group.
I take this example of proximity in Grouping Images
The 2002 Europe Music Awards site illustrates a different use of grouping. The MTV and Europe Music Awards logos form a separate group in the top left corner, whereas the logos of the sponsors form a group in the bottom right corner.
The white space as shown on left right figure helps form the two groups, as do the two blue triangles in the corners. Note that the triangles are not present in the "unoccupied" corners, hence they reinforce the notion of the two groups.
Look at the two organizational logos shown above are bigger and positioned top-left. Thereby increasing their importance in relation to the cluster of smaller logos to the bottom-right.The two clusters of logos not only form groups for design purposes, but also for semantic purposes.
Another example of law proximity will be Proximity in Icons. Here is another aspect of proximity is the propensity to perceive items organised on a line or curve to be related to each another.
In 2008 Web designer Stu Nicholls created a nifty (albeit non-traditional) circular menu.
As the circle that all eight icons sit on, and because of the light gray circles that compose the "background" of the menu, the icons are perceived to be part of a same group. It helps that the icons are thematically the same with similar colours, sizes, and styles.
Law of Similarity
The next law of Gestalt is the Law of Similarity.
Similarity occurs when objects look similar to one another. People often perceive them as a group or pattern.
The logo above (containing 11 distinct objects) appears as as single unit because all of the shapes have similarity.
Unity occurs because the triangular shapes at the bottom of the eagle symbol look similar to the shapes that form the sunburst.
The next law of Gestalt is the Law of Similarity.
Similarity occurs when objects look similar to one another. People often perceive them as a group or pattern.
The logo above (containing 11 distinct objects) appears as as single unit because all of the shapes have similarity.
Unity occurs because the triangular shapes at the bottom of the eagle symbol look similar to the shapes that form the sunburst.
We group things perceptually if they appear to be the same to one another. This is also the reason behind why so many designers prefer to apply blue, underlined links, or at least have all the links appear distinct and the same as each other.
Similar appearance equates to similar function. In the screenshot of the Opera browser’s old Preferences dialog window as shown below, the menu items are grouped by colour. The gray background of the first four menu items group them together, and also sets them apart from the other items. They are also highlighted by the icons that sit beside the first item in each group.
Common Fate
The third law is the Law of Common Fate.
The idea of "common fate" is not complicated, it is simple. We perceive materials or objects moving (or appearing to move) in similar direction as related to each other, more so than elements that are static or appear to be moving in opposite directions. Those related objects are sharing a "common fate."
The vehicles in the photo on the left form two "streams," the left "stream" moving from bottom to top of the image and the right "stream" moving from top to below.
Although this is an completely static image, movement is implied, and relationships immediately develop.
Similar appearance equates to similar function. In the screenshot of the Opera browser’s old Preferences dialog window as shown below, the menu items are grouped by colour. The gray background of the first four menu items group them together, and also sets them apart from the other items. They are also highlighted by the icons that sit beside the first item in each group.
Common Fate
The third law is the Law of Common Fate.
The idea of "common fate" is not complicated, it is simple. We perceive materials or objects moving (or appearing to move) in similar direction as related to each other, more so than elements that are static or appear to be moving in opposite directions. Those related objects are sharing a "common fate."
The vehicles in the photo on the left form two "streams," the left "stream" moving from bottom to top of the image and the right "stream" moving from top to below. Although this is an completely static image, movement is implied, and relationships immediately develop.
In our designs, elements that move with one another relate to one another, while elements that resist that common movement or move in a opposite direction, do not relate. This is a powerful, primal sensory cue among humans. Just think of the drivers’ reactions when a vehicle comes down the lane in the opposite direction from everyone else. Chaos and consternation ensue within moments.
Reference:
http://nicefun.net/learning-theory-of-gestalt-vt2659.html
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