Monday, July 15, 2019

Week_2_Work Day

Today we are working on our second project.   I will come around and help you work out design and finalize your designs for you projects.    I am also happy to help out with any other issues you might like assistance with.  If you are just joining us.  Please see project guidelines and lecture materials by clicking on this link:  http://lwtechdesign.blogspot.com/2017/04/week-2.html

You are selecting ONE of the following Gestalt Principles:

1. Continuity
2. Similarity
3. Proximity
4. Closure

Here is a refresher of the laws we reviewed in Tuesday's class. 


The Gestalt Principles

SIMILARITY / CONTINUATION / CLOSURE / PROXIMITY / FIGURE & GROUND

Gestalt is a psychology term which means "unified whole". It refers to theories of visual perception developed by German psychologists in the 1920s. These theories attempt to describe how people tend to organize visual elements into groups or unified wholes when certain principles are applied. These principles are:
Similarity
Similarity occurs when objects look similar to one another. People often perceive them as a group or pattern.


The example above (containing 11 distinct objects) appears as as single unit because all of the shapes have similarity.
Unity occurs because the triangular shapes at the bottom of the eagle symbol look similar to the shapes that form the sunburst.

When similarity occurs, an object can be emphasised if it is dissimilar to the others. This is called anomally.


The figure on the far right becomes a focal point because it is dissimilar to the other shapes.

SIMILARITY / CONTINUATION / CLOSURE / PROXIMITY / FIGURE & GROUND / TOP

Continuation
Continuation occurs when the eye is compelled to move through one object and continue to another object.


Continuation occurs in the example above, because the viewer's eye will naturally follow a line or curve. The smooth flowing crossbar of the "H" leads the eye directly to the maple leaf.

SIMILARITY / CONTINUATION / CLOSURE / PROXIMITY / FIGURE & GROUND / TOP

Closure
Closure occurs when an object is incomplete or a space is not completely enclosed. If enough of the shape is indicated, people percieve the whole by filling in the missing infomation.



Although the panda above is not complete, enough is present for the eye to complete the shape. When the viewer's perception completes a shapeclosure occurs.
Examples


SIMILARITY / CONTINUATION / CLOSURE / PROXIMITY / FIGURE & GROUND / TOP

Proximity
Proximity occurs when elements are placed close together. They tend to be perceived as a group.



The nine squares above are placed without proximity. They are perceived as separate shapes.





When the squares are given close proximity, unity occurs. While they continue to be separate shapes, they are now perceived as one group.



The fifteen figures above form a unified whole (the shape of a tree) because of their proximity.

SIMILARITY / CONTINUATION / CLOSURE / PROXIMITY / FIGURE & GROUND / TOP

Figure and Ground
The eye differentiates an object form its surrounding area. a form, silhouette, or shape is naturrally perceived as figure (object), while the surrounding area is perceived as ground (background).
Balancing figure and ground can make the perceived image more clear. Using unusual figure/ground relationships can add interest and sublety to an image.


Figure
The word above is clearly perceived as figure with the surrounding white space ground.



In this image, the figure and ground relationships changeas the eye perceives the the form of a shade or the silhouette of a face.




This image uses complex figure/ground relationships which change upon perceiving leaves, water and tree trunk.

GESTALT PDF EXERCISE SHEET


IDEAS:



In the image above we are seeing several phenomena.   The law of closure around the figure, the law of similarity in our mind's need to separate the figures into light blue and dark blue, and finally, the law of proximity allows us to see two groups (or figures) based on how close they are to each other.

 Above we see the edges of the words create "CLOSURE" which signifies to us, the viewer, the shape of the light bulb.
 Above, we are also seeing the law of "Closure" happening.

 We can see the law of continuity applied in the image above.  Because of the placement of the squares in a spiraling pattern, we visualize linear spirals towards the center of the composition.

 In the image above, we are seeing the effects of two phenomena again. because of the direction of the lines, we are seeing continuity create a shape, or closure of the box shape in the center.
 The Above image illustrates the gestalt principle of closure.   The edges of the horizontal lines create the shape of a fish.
 In the above image, we are seeing several phenomena occur.  The PROXIMITY of the shapes force the viewer to group the sets of shapes.   SIMILARITY also helps that process.   We perceive the shapes as a tree with a grouping of leaves at the top of the image.


What principles are you seeing in the above image?


Day 2__Project_001 The Bauhaus and Art Deco

Bauhaus and Art Deco are two movements that happened in the earlier part of the twentieth century. A lot was going on in this time period.  The Industrial Revolution had swept across the country causing the uprise of city centers, manufacturing, factories, steel productions, and railroads (which shipped everything everywhere creating nationwide commerce).   Art had shifted too.   Have a look


Art Deco or Deco, is an influential visual arts design style that first appeared in France just before World War I and began flourishing internationally in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s before its popularity waned after World War II.

Deco is a very dramatic style that emphasizes geometric forms: spheres, polygons, rectangles, trapezoids, zigzags, chevrons, and sunburst motifs. Elements are often arranged in symmetrical patterns. Modern materials, such as aluminum, stainless steel, Bakelite, chrome, and plastics, are frequently used. Stained glass, inlays, and lacquer are also common. Colors tend to be vivid and high contrast






BAUHAUS
The second of these two movements centered around an actual school called the Bauhaus.  The Bauhaus, similar in aesthetic to the Art Deco movement is also characterized by a simplistic, modern, and slightly industrial feel.    It's impact on architecture, typography, graphic design, and furniture design are still highly relevant, even today... almost 100 years later.  It could be said that the mid-century modern building that we are sitting in was in many ways influence by bauhaus as well.