Task 2 Figure/Ground

Today we looked at the theory of Gesalt. It staes that we, ' perceive motion when there is nothing more than a rapid sequence of individual sensory events such as a series of lights flashing in sequence'.

Gesalt was founded by Max Wertheimer. 

It forms the idea that the whole is separate from the other parts.

The key features of this are;

• Emergence (the whole is identified before the parts)
• Reification (our mind fills in the gaps)
• Multi-Stability (the mind seeks to avoid uncertainty) 
• Invariance (we're good at recognising similarities and differences)

Examples of forms which contain one or more aspects of Gesalt theory:

We then look at the law of Pragnanz (law of simplicity)

This is where when we are confronted with complex shapes interpret them into simpler components or in simple whole pieces. 

Key features of this are;

• Closure (combining parts to form a simpler whole)
• Symmetry & Order (we like to impose order into chaos to get the feeling of solidity and order)
• Proximity (Onjects that are closer as viewed as being more related than those whihc are further apart)
• Continuation (We will continue our perceptiuon of shapes beyond their ending point)
• Uniform Connectedness (elements that are visually connected are perceived a more related than those without)
• Similarity (elements that sgare similar characteristics are periceived as more related than those which don't)
• Focal Point (elements with a point of interest, emphasis or difference will cpature the viewers attention)

We then looked at the three types of Figure/Ground relationship - Stable, Reversible, Ambiguous 

• Stable (one dominates the composition)
• Reversible (figure and ground attract the same attention equally, creating tension where either can dominate leading to a dynamic design)
• Ambiguous (elements can seem both figure and ground at the same time. The viewer has to find their own focal point in the composition)

The typographer Jan Tschichold stated - "white space is to be regarded as an active element, not a passive background' 

This suggests space gives positive elements space to breathes and gives the eye freedom to move through a design and to discover the elements its looking for. Establishing contrast, emphasis and hierarchy.

Armin Hoffman

 

This Armin Hoffman logo for the Swiss National Exhibition uses the reification from the gestalt theory. when looking at the logo our mind fils in the two open spaces in the cross to forma a complete sign. My view of the logo also took a few seconds to adjust to the emergence of the piece as the two separate shapes (E and +) didn't pop out immediately. 

Task

Our task for today was to create a grid of post it notes made from three different colours to create letterforms by filling in each square with colour. We were to use two words to occupy the same gridded space simultaneously.

We decided to use the words 'dog' and 'cat' as there was room to play with the linked meanings of the words. We first experimented with colour and layout of the square in a smaller format on the table. We found that layering the 'dog' type under 'cat' would make the text flow better and would offer a better end result.

We then moved it up a scale and played around with the post it note layout on the floor, and found that a 7x7 grid of post it notes would fit best for us. We struggled at first at aligning the post it notes so that they were all straight, but we managed to get a solid straight outer edge to our piece and then built up from our first layer 'dog' in pink. 

We started to work with the layering and built up our 2nd layer of 'cat' over the 'dog' type. This gave a really strong contrast of colours which flow together really well and occupied the space fully.

Once all the post it notes were layered up correctly, we decided to create an animation where a dog and cat would walk over each post it note, which would in turn be removed once they had moved on to the next. This create a really smooth clear animated piece which clearly displayed both texts in the grid form, (waiting on finished animation).