Law of Design Perception & Color Theory

Fundamentals of Graphic Design

UNIT I

Law of Design Perception

What is?

What is the law of design perception?

Refers to a set of principles that describe how people tend to organize and interpret the visual elements of a design. These laws, derived from Gestalt Theory, are fundamental in the field of graphic design, architecture, web design and other related fields.

“The whole is greater than the sum of the parts”

- is often used to explain Gestalt Theory.

What is Gestalt Theory?

• It was a movement that began in the 1920s in Berlin, Germany.

• Gestalt is a German word meaning pattern, figure or form.

• This movement sought to make sense of how our minds perceive things as a whole, rather than each element individually.

How does Gestalt Theory relate to visual perception and graphic design?

It is applicable to graphic design and even to interface design or web usability.

The main idea put forward by Gestalt psychology is that when we perceive the world, even though there are different signals impacting us at the same time, in order to organize them, our mind summarizes the environment as shapes or groups of elements. It simplifies it.

For a design to work well you must always consider not only the visual elements separately, but also how the whole design is perceived.

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Key ideas of Gestalt Theory

Invariance

Appearance

Reification

Multistability

The idea of appearance arises when an object is perceived and we give it an interpretation based on previous information we already know. It is often used in the design of logos for companies.

People can recognize objects even when parts of them are missing. Our brain matches what we see with familiar patterns stored in our memory to fill in the gaps.

People can recognize simple objects regardless of their rotation, scale or translation. Our brain can perceive objects from different perspectives even though they have different appearances.

The idea of Multistability is based on the fact that people often interpret ambiguous objects in more than one way. Our brains go back and forth in search of certainty.

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Principle of Similarity or Similarity

• It is used to link elements that may or may not be close to each other. If we find them similar, we will tend to see them as part of a group.
• Also, if a design is made up of similar objects, the viewer will perceive the whole as balanced and coherent. The greater the similarity between the objects, the more coherence the work as a whole will convey.

Principle of Continuity

• The eye can visually create the continuity of a line. This principle is based on the idea that the human eye will always follow the smoothest, least forced and most coherent visual path.
• The principle of Continuity can be very useful, for example, to point to a design element or when we need to guide our viewer's gaze.

Principle of Closure

• When we perceive a figure that is not closed or delimited by lines, our mind tends to convey a sense of closure or complete form.

• The principle of closure is a technique often used in graphic design, especially in logo design. When perceiving an element as incomplete, our brain works by filling in the missing information.

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Principle of Proximity

• The proximity principle theorizes how we tend to group shapes or visual elements that are close to each other.

• To do so, these objects must share some of these characteristics in common: shape, color, size or texture.

• On the other hand, if we increase the space between elements we can achieve a sense of separation, even if the elements have characteristics in common.

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Principle of Figure and Background

• The Figure and Background principle is quite similar to the principle of closure, because it also takes advantage of the way the brain processes negative space.

• This principle describes the tendency of the human eye to see an object separately from its surroundings.

• Our mind is not able to interpret the same element as both figure and background at the same time.

Principle of Symmetry and Order

• This principle, also known as prägnanz (meaning good figure), theorizes that elements that have symmetry and order are also perceived as part of the same group.

• This principle states that our mind tends to analyze always in the simplest way, organizing the elements in symmetrical, regular and stable figures. According to this principle a composition should never provide a sense of disorder or lack of balance.

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Common Management Principle

• In recent years, this principle of common direction has also been referred to as the common direction principle.

• This last law theorizes that objects and elements that appear to build a pattern or flow in the same direction are once again perceived as part of a group.

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Color Theory

What is?

“On coming into contact with a given color, it immediately synchronizes with the human spirit, producing a decided and important effect on the mood.”

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

DO COLORS INFLUENCE EMOTIONS?

“On coming into contact with a given color, it immediately synchronizes with the human spirit, producing a decided and important effect on the mood.”

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

What is Color Theory?

• Color psychology is the study of how color affects human behavior, a branch of the broader field of behavioral psychology.

• This science argues that we feel color and that each color has a powerful influence on an individual's mood and state of mind.

Red

Red brings attention to text and images, so use it as a color to stimulate people to make quick decisions. It is a perfect color for buttons with Call-To-Actions like “Buy now” or “Click here”.

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Yellow

• Yellow evokes pleasant and cheerful feelings, so you can use it to promote children's products and leisure-related items.

• Yellow is usually perceived as a carefree and unstable color, so it is not recommended to use it to sell prestige or expensive products.

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Orange

• Orange is a color that gives the feeling of warmth, so it produces a stimulating effect and is very accepted among young people.

• This color has a very high visibility, so you can use it to attract attention and promote food products or toys.

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Green

• Green has great healing power, which makes it the most soothing color to the human eye; it suggests stability and resilience.

• Use green to indicate balance in your messages or promote 'green' products.

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Blue

• Blue is a color that is considered beneficial for mind and body. It decreases human metabolism, produces a calming effect and emits confidence.

• Many banks, hospitals and Facebook like to use blue to show confidence to their customers.

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Black

• Black is a mysterious color associated with fear, the unknown and usually has a negative connotation: blacklist, black humor, black death.

• Likewise, it is an elegant and prestigious color: black tie, black Mercedes Benz. An excellent color for luxury or fashion brands.

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White

• White is considered the color of perfection, a new beginning and is the representative color of faith. It is an appropriate color for charitable or religious organizations.

• White is associated with health and sterility, so you can use it to give security when promoting medical products, low-fat foods and dairy products.

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Color Persuasion

The visual appeal of a brand is the primary influence on a consumer's purchase decision. In fact, the color and appearance of a product affects 93% of the purchase decision. This is followed by texture, which affects 6%, and sounds/smells, which affect 1% of the purchase decision.

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