Saturday, February 13, 2010

Gestalt: The Whole Part


In this picture we tend to see a triangle and a sqaure instead of unregular figures




The fundamental principle of gestalt perception is the law of prägnanz.




"The law of Pragnanz says that we try to experience things in as good a gestalt way as possible. In this sense, "good" can mean several things, such as regular, orderly, simplistic, symmetrical, etc." [Grika,2005]. We see this everyday in particular with advertising in logo's and signs that may be incomplete yet can catch our eye as unusual. However, we quickly can see the whole picture because our mind wants to create order to the incomplete image.

An example in advertising of this phenonenom is the logo for Federal Express: At first we tend to see the words but then hidden between the letters E and x is the arrow indicating delivery. We see it but then tend to go back to what may seem simpler and more complete. It is somewhat perceived yet moves on to the name of the organization. Again, Gestalt is about the relationship of parts to the whole.
How do you see this law as important to instruction when designing materials that capture the whole concept in many parts? Why is it important for businesses when creating an image?