Amanpreet Rakkar

Gestalt is a form of psychology that focuses on cognitive behaviors. Designers are influenced by the visual perceptual aspect of this, particularly the theory that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The mind copes with the visual confusion of our everyday world by consolidating objects into groups in order to simplify input. For instance, when our eyes see a tail, paws, legs, a body, fur, a collar, ears and nose, our mind brings these parts together to register a cat. The mind effectively simplifies the parts by making it into a single object. Applying this theory to design creates unity within a piece. The stronger the relationship between elements on a page, the better the communication. This theory also helps the designer influence the viewer by controlling how the design is viewed.
Five design principles derive from the Gestalt theory: proximity, similarity, continuity, closure and figure/ground. Each employs different methods to create unity within the whole.