The Shape Theory/Gestalt Theory

In todays lesson, we learned about Shape Theory/Gestalt Theory. If you don't know what Gestalt theory is then it is a psychology term which means a  "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.

We also learned about the 5 principals, which are; Proximity, Closure, Similarity, Continuity and Symmetry.

Proximity - Proximity is when our brains piece things together.
Closure - Closure is when our brain pieces something together that might not actually be there.
Similarity - Similarity is when our brains see an image which for example is all the same thing going on in the image but we notice the colour first - due to it standing out more.
Continuity - Continuity is something that we are used too. For example if we have a book, we automatically read from the left to the right.
Symmetry - Symmetry is a mirrored effect. For example, the Taj Mahal.


This is a Proximity principal image.


This is a Closure principal image.



This is a Similarity principal image.


This is a Continuity principal image.



This is a Symmetry principal image.







These are 3 examples of Shape Theory. The first and third example simply just show the shapes with vibrant and different colours blending together. The second example shows Colour Theory and Shape Psychology. Shape psychology is what we think shapes represent, for example; a circle represents infinity as the circle keeps on going around.