Gestalt Principles

Andrew Lambert

10 Associations for Emotional Inputs A – Fierce & Dynamic
– roar
– moving
– changing
– intense
– determined
– sharp
– change
– activity
– progress
– ferocious

10 Associations for Emotional Inputs B – Whimsical & Delicate
– playful
– light
– easy to break
– intricate
– fragile
– careless?
– graceful
– subtle
– tender
– goofy

10 Associations for Emotional Inputs C – Safe & Efficient
– protected
– riskless
– balanced
– minimalist
– succinct
– existing
– well-organized
– economical
– powerful
– able

– Bold
– Standing out
– Breaking a rule
– major contrast
– Big move in the composition
– Intense
– Strong Focus
– Used extensively throughout the composition
– Unpleasant
– Extensive continuation of big and small moves

Whimsical and Delicate:

– Playful
– unusual
– Abstract
– thin white spaces
– Funny
– Breaking a rule
– one of a kind
– delusional
– weightlessness
– confusing

Safe and Efficient:

– Composed
– balanced
– equal use of white and black space
– following a rule
– enclosed
– quick
– smart
– more white space- light
– equal division
– symmetry

Elena

Fierce and Dynamic
1. Tiger
2. Fast airplane
3. Fast, aerodynamic, red car
4. Hawk
5. Snake
6. Wolf
7. Lion
8. Shark
9. Swarm of killing bees
10. Lernean Hydra (Greek mythology)
Whimsical and Delicate
1. Dandelion seeds
2. Silk scarf
3. Butterfly
4. Snow flake
5. Spider web
6. Lace
7. Cotton candy
8. Water droplet
9. Angel
10. Moon
Safe and Efficient
1. Baby bottle
2. Police officer
3. Bank
4. Googles
5. Lab coat
6. Belt
7. Car belt
8. Key
9. Padlock
10. Lock box

Dina Bseiso

A. Fierce and Dynamic: edges, diagonals, slices, daunting, targeted, racing, multidirectional, enormous, unstable, engulfing

B. Whimsical and Delicate: shy, in hiding, awkward, clumsy, frail, clustered, scattered, spontaneous, loopy, shattered

C. Safe and Efficient: centered, square, unidirectional, parallels, aligned, framing, unambiguous, weighted, measured, orderly

Frankly, I found this assignment rather difficult — both in ideation and in execution. I decided from the start to embark on these voices on as abstract a level as I possibly could, and so found my designs to be rather simplistic on the whole. Despite this trend, I believe all three sets are distinguishable from one another. I found whimsical and delicate to be my most challenging set, in that I had in my mind a very clear idea of what that meant to me, but found it very difficult to translate the idea into material arrangement. Especially when the minimum size of our forms could be 1″x1″, I found myself readjusting, redefining what it meant to be “delicate” or “whimsical.” In the end, I found it to be my most successful set.

Justin Berner

a: Fierce and Dynamic
Angry
Strong
Red
Powerful
Beast
Agile
Independent
Direct
Ovechkin
Rabid

b: Whimsical and Delicate
Fanciful
Dancing
Fun
Young
Innocent
Pastel
Disney
Motion
Soft
Falling

c: Safe and Efficient
Economics
Conservative
Calendar
Trust
Blanket
Train
Bank
Money
Blue
Consistency

Xiaojie Li

(A) Fierce and Dynamica
1. Water fall from up to down.
2. As top left corner needs to be balanced, I use scale to add effort to the left-up space, It’s dynamic because it’s like a water falling down from the window.
3. To balance top left space, I use the white square created by the black line to emphasize that space. It’s dynamic as you feel drawn to the inside. The focus is naturally be on the black little square.
4. I get the idea of dynamic from the way people enjoy calligraphy.
5. There are 4 squares in the image, two incomplete ones.
6. It’s like a bunch of flower.
7.It’s like a feather. The emphasize is put on the very left one.
8. Sunshine is a dynamic product. Again, to balance the image, I put the effort on top left corner.
(B) Whimsical and Delicate
1. Inspired by how weight balance the image, I put two items on opposite site. It’s very delicate as you will not call it balance from the vision, but you feel it’s balanced because of the weight.
2. To balance the image, I put the focus on the top left corner. This lines are in different scale. But because the nest line will take off some place of the previous line, it looks in harmony.
3. Also, use three lines to emphasize the left-up corner to balance the image.
4. The hierarchy is put in the enter short line.
5. Using space, my understanding is that the size should be the same. Also, as people’s eye following the up-down order. The focus will naturally be given to the bottom one.
6. I used line, point, and (white) space to create the delicate feeling.
7. Again, line, point, and (white ) space. Here, although the point is not in the center, it gets the attention because it’s on the top left corner.
8. I want to create a delicate image with a sense of motion. That’s why I put some disequilibrium on the left part.
(C) Safe and Efficient
1. little up space, like the title we see in one image, Efficient and balance.
2. Using scale to balance top left corner.
3. Using the same point to balance top left corner.
4. Efficient hierarchy, like the title we use in slides,
5. Hierarchy using space, like the article structure we use.
6. Balance the top left corner with slight difference.
7. Balanced but also emphasize the lone line.
8. A temple is a simple of safe.

Weina Chen

Gestalt Principles —
Word Associations

A) Fierce and Dynamic
1. Fire
2. Changing
3. Bold
4. Raging
5. Fighting
6. Raging
7. Powerful
8. Strong
9. Piercing
10. Overcoming

B) Whimsical and Delicate
1. Asymmetrical
2. Child-like
3. Anthropologie
4. Playful
5. Imperfect
6. Miniaturized
7. Cute
8. Superfluous
9. Casual
10. Intricate

C) Safe and Efficient
1. Logical
2. Engineering
3. Tetris
4. Banking
5. Secure
6. Fortified
7. Satisfying
8. Practical
9. Institutional
10. Protected

For my first set of compositions, I was inspired by racing stripes, music equalizers, and long lines representing movement. This set is tilted at an angle and many pieces have directionality. I wanted to portray a sense of movement and direction through the long lines, arrows, and waves.
For the second set, I was inspired by small building blocks, a childlike and fun object. I purposely misaligned the blocks with each other in stacks to give a sense of imperfection, as if they were casually stacked together by a kid. I wanted to convey a playful tone with these pieces.
Finally for the third set, there is the underlying theme of the container at the bottom of the composition. The set is composed in the lower portion of the page, giving a sense of stability at the base. Simple geometric shapes that are always contained inside the base give the compositions a sense of safety and security.

Teresa Haun – Gestalt Principles

Part 1 – Emotional Inputs Word Associations

(A) Fierce and Dynamic
a. Brave
b. Strong personality
c. Empowered
d. No fear
e. Many layers
f. Action oriented
g. Leader
h. Beyonce
i. Oprah
j. Cat woman

(B) Whimsical and Delicate
a. Children’s laughter
b. Bunnies
c. Doilies
d. Easter
e. Macarons
f. Cupcakes
g. Flowers
h. Lace
i. Tinkerbell
j. Makeup

(C) Safe and Efficient
a. Toyota
b. Honda
c. Bart
d. Flying on an airplane
e. Taking the elevator instead of the stairs
f. Running
g. Tennis shoes
h. Weight lifting
i. Cooked vegetables
j. Well-done protein

Composition

Word Lists

(A) Fierce and Dynamic: bold, strong, movement, angles, grounded, geometric patterns, direct, unapologetic, adrenaline, fast

(B) Whimsical and Delicate: grass, leaves, delicate balance, growth, flowers, curves, gentle, sprout, flow, sway

For Fierce and Dynamic I was inspired by bold geometric patterns from the Southwestern U.S., such as triangles and zigzags, as well as by the red mesas and harsh, unapologetic landscape.

For Whimsical and Delicate, I was inspired by grasses blowing in the wind, plants growing upward, and myself as a small sprout just learning to make compositions.

For Safe and Efficient, I thought of simple mobile UI app layouts and tried to be as minimalist as possible, even to the point of maybe being boring.

As an additional creative constraint, I used the same pieces of black paper across each composition in the three sections; e.g., the second piece in each of (A), (B), and (C) all use the same pieces of black paper.

Category: Gestalt Principles