What exactly is Gestalt Psychology?

The word Gestalt is difficult to translate precisely into English, though it is usually translated as “pattern”, “shape” or “form”. There is a common misconception that it means “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”, however Kurt Koffka (the psychologist who initially coined the phrase) actually proposed that “the whole is other than the sum of its parts” — that the end result is different to the parts it is composed of.

In the most basic sense, Gestalt principles aim to define how the audience views your product as a whole based on the elements it’s comprised of. For example, the music and visuals coming together in a TV advert or single shapes being brought together to create a company logo.

“The importance of the gestalt perspective is nowhere more clearly demonstrated than in the media where context and demographics must be understood. In the television and advertising industry, we ask ‘how’ will this message be seen, heard, or read by our customers and how will this customer be motivated to action.” Kenan Branam — Gestalt Institute of Houston

The Gestalt Laws of Grouping

Some of the most easily understood principles are the Gestalt Laws of Grouping. These laws define how the audience groups together or singles-out visual information. For example:

The Law of Similarity

This grouping law states we perceive objects as together when they look alike and can easily spot anything that doesn’t fit in. It is an excellent way to attract attention to a particular element.

The Law of Closure

According to the law of closure, humans perceive partial shapes as a whole. For example, we view this as an incomplete circle instead of a set of eleven small, unrelated lines. Many brands use this when creating minimalist logos but it can also be used in a huge variety of applications.

The Law of Symmetry

This law states that we divide images into separate symmetrical parts, breaking it down into visually-pleasing symmetrical shapes.

The Law of Proximity

The Law of Proximity suggests the human mind automatically groups elements of an image when they are close together. The example to the left clearly shows what we perceive as five groups of objects, when it is essentially just forty-eight dots. Arranged randomly, these dots would appear to be individual and unconnected.

The Law of Continuity

Our final example is one that shows how the audience assumes continuation when presented with an intersection. As an example, the cross to the left appears to be a horizontal and vertical line, however when we move or change the color of the elements we can see it’s actually formed from two right-angles.

How is this useful when Marketing?

Gestalt principles teach us how to present our information. By utilizing what we’ve learned we can create a visually pleasing image to present to our audience. We can also subvert these standard rules to direct attention to any element we please, such as call-to-actions or key information. Attention is gained not by blending in but by breaking the mold — these rules are made to be broken.

“ Media and advertising professionals use gestalt theory to create effective ways to sell products whether using images or conceiving of the most beneficial forms of distribution.”
Jane Meggitt — Chron

Let’s run through a simple example…

A closer look at where attention is being focused

While this is a very basic example, it’s clear to see how much impact a few simple changes can make. Many of these principles are considered common knowledge when designing anything with the purpose of attracting attention, though it’s good to consider why certain approaches are effective.

Practical Application

I currently work at Packt Publishing (publisher of over 2,000 tech-focused books & videos and donator of over $1,000,000 to Open Source Projects), where I try to design with these principles in mind. A few past designs may serve as a practical example of real-world applications, so let’s talk through a couple…