Gestalt principle

The fundamental law that governs a Gestalt principle is that we tend to order our experience in a manner that’s regular, orderly, and recognizable. This is what allows us to create meaning in a complex and chaotic world. And having a solid understanding of how these principles work will help you in three ways.

  1. They’ll help you determine which design elements are most effective in a given situation. For example, when to use visual hierarchy, background shading, gradients, and how to group similar items and distinguish different ones.
  2. These psychological principles hold power to influence our visual perception, which allows designers to direct our attention to specific points of focus, get us to take specific actions, and create behavioral change.
  3. And finally, at the highest level, the Gestalt principles help you design products that solve the customer’s problem or meet the user’s need in a way that’s beautiful, pleasing, and intuitive to use.

Figure-ground

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The figure-ground principle states that people instinctively perceive objects as either being in the foreground or the background. They either stand out prominently in the front (the figure) or recede into the back (the ground).

Similarity

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The principle of similarity states that when things appear to be similar to each other, we group them together. And we also tend to think they have the same function.

For instance, in this image, there appear to be two separate and distinct groups based on shape: the circles and the squares.

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A variety of design elements, like color and organization, can be used to establish similar groups. In the image below, for example, even though all of the shapes are the same, it’s clear that each column represents a distinct group.

Proximity

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The principle of proximity states that things that are close together appear to be more related than things that are spaced farther apart.

Proximity is so powerful that it overrides similarity of color, shape, and other factors that might differentiate a group of objects.

Common region