Gestalt's Psychology

Gestalt is a German term that means the essence of shape of an entity’s complete form, or in simpler terms, a set regarded as a whole.

In design, we learned about the Gestalt effect in which our senses will create forms in respect to visual recognition and fill in whole forms instead of focusing on a small area of lines, curves, or shapes.

We specifically learned that, Gestalt Theory, was about three things.

1. Understanding perception as a process of pattern making ie. The organization of patterns and the meaning of recognition.

2. Perception is self-organizing.

3. Spontaneous drive towards spontaneity.

In other words, gestalt in design is about figuring out the big picture.

But then I remember my mentor once telling me about this artist, J.C. Leyendecker who illustrated figures in which their limbs and heads were depicted clearly while their bodies blended into the background.

Art work by J.C. Leyendecker

This concept is similar to the Gestalt Theory since while only the limbs and head appear, our visual recognition forces us to imagine the rest of the body. Making the rest body appear to us despite the lack of imagery. This unique concept demonstrates to us that we need little to create.

Thus, in this unique way we were able to get to the picture by making use of what we know already.