Tim McCreight, the author of Design Language, wrote: “Our need for wholeness is so great we assemble elements into as large a unit as possible. We will see a row of dots as a dotted line rather than a collection of small marks” (1996). Surprisingly, *gestalt* is not the name of the person who discovered the series of visual perceptions that are now known as design laws. Instead, the word *gestalt* means “form or shape.”

The gestalt theory originated with Wertheimer, and he believed the human brain predictably organizes and groups forms and shapes by grouping them in certain ways. Gestalt theory includes: “the law of similarity, the law of proximity, the law of continuation, and the law of common fate” according to Paul Martin Lester, the author of Visual Communication.

Gestalt psychologists continued Wertheimer’s work which began back in the 1920’s. For artists to know how the mind sees and organizes visual information is so helpful. Improved understanding of how designs and patterns are viewed as a whole and not strictly by the parts is helpful to artists, because they can use these laws as guidelines as they work.

Due to this study, an artist has a better idea as to how much or how little information should be in their graphic designs and artwork. The knowledge of gestalt lets artists and designers know they don’t have to include every bit of information as they design, because the human mind completes the missing parts and details by grouping, connecting, and separating the varying shapes and forms.

Debbie Jensen, Graphic Designer and Photographer http://www.debjensendesigns.com

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