The
Gestalt
Principles

We are bombarded by visual stimuli every day. In order to make sense out of what we see, the mind consolidates similar items into groups to simpliy input. Gestalt is concerned with how these groups are formed and what effect they have on perception. For example, when you see a chassis, windows, doors, a hood, trunk, wheels, etc. driving down the road, you register those components as a car. Kurt Koffka, a proponent of the Gestalt Theory, famously stated that “The whole is other than the sum of its parts.” Often the quote gets mistranslated to “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” All those parts that make the car are objects of their own that are built together to make a whole car, making it other than the sum of its parts. Gestalt explores the relationships that wholes and their parts have with each other, and how it affects perception.

Similarity

Continuation

Closure

Proximity

Figure/Ground

Symmetry and Order

Common Fate

Past Experience