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Graphic Communications
Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Gestalt
Gestalt is a psychology term that means
“unified whole.” The theory of how people tend to
organize visual elements into groups or a unified
whole was developed by German psychologists in
the 1920s. Successful designs use these principles
to create unity.
The unity is based on the fact that the whole is
viewed independently from its parts. When viewed
separately, the parts can take on a completely
different meaning from when looked at together.
Gestalt Principles
The gestalt principles include:
• Similarity—The appearance of objects looking
alike so that the viewer perceives them to be a
group or pattern.
• Proximity—Elements that are placed close
together are viewed as a group and become
visually tied together.
• Closure—The property of a space that is not
completely enclosed (or a specific object is
incomplete) but enough is implied that your eye
fills in the missing information. The panda in the
World Wide Fund for Nature logo is an example
of closure.
• Continuation—Continuation is the result of
your eye continuing though one element into
another. The FedEx® logo shows continuation
with the arrow.
See examples in Figure 7-37.
Layout
Layout is the road map of elements that shows
the visual hierarchy and provides the direction for
the viewer. The elements of layout include all of
your assets: the text, the graphics, and the page
itself.
Composition
The arrangement of these elements must be
pleasing to the eye and easy to read. The designer
is responsible for assembling the elements to make
a composition.
Because symmetry is the easiest way to
achieve balance, if you place the most important
element at the visual center of the page, you can
add impact to your design. The visual center is
slightly up and to the right of the physical center of a
page or area. See Figure 7-38.
Rule of Thirds
Applying the basic rule of thirds to your design
makes the layout more interesting. Divide your
page into thirds, both horizontally and vertically.
Using this layout and placing key elements on the
intersections of these lines, your design will have
more power. See Figure 7-39.
The Z layout utilizes common eye movements
to direct the viewer though your design. Through
placement of key elements and visual hierarchy,
you want the viewer to start in the upper-left corner,
continue across the page, then down a diagonal to
the bottom left. This layout will finish in the bottom-
right corner, or power corner. This corner has
more visual “weight” than the rest of the page. See
Figure 7-40.
Goodheart-Willcox Publisher
Figure 7-36. Unity in design is achieved using balance,
hierarchy, contrast, and a clear message.