Gestalt and Shape Theory

It's all about how the human brain reacts to visual perception. It's the act of taking something seen as a whole and breaking it into parts. The brain then reconstructs it.

The main parts are:

• Proximity
• Closure
• Continuity
• Similarity
• Symmetry

Proximity

Where the brain pieces the image together when they are close together. So here, you automatically group these squares together.

Closure principle

There is a missing part of an image and out brain automatically completes the image (like a missing shape)

Similarity

Our eyes are drawn to the figures but group one or more of those figures together because they are different.

Also, similar shapes are used to create a larger picture.

Continuity

Our eyes are automatically read from left to right, from top to bottom.

Symmetry principle

We see that logos and shapes are symmetrical and we automatically see that as appealing.

The meaning of shapes

Circle = Perfection, wholeness, infinite, timelessness
Square = strong, firm, immovable, quality, formal, strict
Triangle / arrows = Equality, connected, direction, instructional

Examples in production

Here, we can see that 'Similarity' and 'closure' have been used to create the illusion of a face being shown next to the picture of a firing gun. This makes us think twice about what we see.