Module 2. Intro to Gestalt

The Gestalt Theory began at the end of the 19^th century in Germany. It was the protest against the looking at something bit by bit to looking at it as a whole. How simple could they get the object and still comprehend the object. A viewer looking at an outline of a tree knows it is a tree. Details of the tree are not necessary. Artists look for details. Viewers look for shapes, color, size, texture or placement to complete the picture.

How objects are placed on the viewing surface can influence the way a viewer perceives the image. If the object is near or overlaps another object, the viewer will see both objects as a whole. The object does not need to be complete. The viewer’s mind will complete the object, depending on their knowledge. The artist can manipulate the viewer mind by use of color, shape and proximity. The FedEx logo causes you to see the name because of the colors purple and orange. The space between the E and the x creates an arrow causing the viewer to think the service is rapid.

http://www.princeton.edu/~freshman/gestalt/

http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/gestalt_principles.htm

http://www.scribd.com/doc/15897149/Gestalt-Principles-Overview

http://www.scientificjournals.org/journals2008/articles/1288.pdf

http://www.moillusions.com/2006/05/fedex-logo-optical-illusion.html

http://www.users.totalise.co.uk/~kbroom/Lectures/gestalt.htm

http://psychology.jrank.org/pages/279/Gestalt-Psychology.html

http://psychology.about.com/od/schoolsofthought/f/gestalt_faq.htm

(The Gestalt school of psychology studies the way we perceive reality.
It attempts to answer why we organize visual elements the way we do, resulting in the images our mind perceives.
Some more principles used to study gestalt are similarity, continuation, closure, proximity, and figure. The theory of gestalt was developed in the 1920's by German psychologists.

The principles of Gestalt are figure and ground, grouping, similarity, proximity, continuation, closure, leveling and sharpening, surrounding and third dimension. All of these are ways to explain how our mind is able to piece together objects to make a recognizable image.)