Fundamentals of Design - Rule of Thirds, Centre of Interest, Gestalt principles

1. UNIT - 3
FUNDAMENTALS OF DESIGN
Presented by
Agilandeeswari. R

2. RULE OF THIRD

3. FRAMING AND FORM
• The rule of thirds is one of the most common rules in photography.
• The four intersection points of these lines, and the four lines themselves, are where subjects, or
strong compositional lines of a photograph, can be placed to create a strong, balanced image.
• The rule of thirds is a composition guideline that places your subject in the left or right third of an
image, leaving the other two thirds more open.

4. CENTRE OF INTEREST

5. • A center of interest is that part of the picture which attracts
the mind.
• Focal point, focal area, area of dominance, center of
dominance, area of interest, etc. These terms all refer to the
same thing: the area of greatest contrast in a painting where
the eye goes to rest and focus.
• Placement. The location of the center of interest in
generally determined by a centuries old compositional
structure commonly known as the "Golden Section" or
"Rule of Thirds."
• This compositional guide divides the painting surface into
equal thirds both vertically and horizontally.

6. GESTALTS THEORY OF
VISUAL COMPOSITION

7. • Gestalt Principles are principles/laws of human
perception that describe how humans group similar
elements, recognize patterns and simplify complex
images when we perceive objects.
• Designers use the principles to organize content on
websites and other interfaces so it is aesthetically
pleasing and easy to understand.
• Gestalt psychology is a theory that looks at human
perception. It originated in Austria and Germany
during the early 20th century as a counter to the
principles of elementalist and structuralist psychology.
There are seven Gestalt design principles:
1.Principle of proximity
2.Principle of closure
3.Principle of similarity
4.Principle of continuity
5.Principles of Figure/Ground
6.Principle of Symmetry and
order
7.Principle of Common Fate

8. Principle of proximity
• Proximity refers to how close elements are to one
another. The strongest proximity relationships are those
between overlapping subjects, but just grouping objects
into a single area can also have a strong proximity effect.
• Visually, distance defines relatedness. Objects that are
close together are seen as related, while objects that are
far apart … aren’t.
• An example of proximity in design is the Girl Scouts logo,
with its three faces clustered in profile (two green, one
white).

9. Humans prefer complete shapes, so they automatically fill
in gaps between elements to perceive a complete image.
Iconic logos such as IBM’s and the World Wildlife Fund’s
are examples of applied closure—IBM’s comprising blue
horizontal lines arranged in three stacks; the WWF’s
consisting of a cluster of black shapes set against a white
background to reveal the familiar form of a panda.
Principle of closure

10. Principle of similarity
•Similarity (also known as Invariance): The human eye
tends to build a relationship between similar elements
within a design. Similarity can be achieved using basic
elements such as shapes, colors, and size.
• Similarity can be used to tie together elements that might
not be right next to each other in a design.

11. Principle of continuity
The human eye follows the paths, lines, and curves of a
design, and prefers to see a continuous flow of visual
elements rather than separated objects.
Principles of perception
The figure/ground principle is similar to the closure
principle in that it takes advantage of the way the brain
processes negative space.
Figure/Ground (also known as Multi-stability): The
human eye isolates shapes from backgrounds.
Rubin’s Vase

12. Symmetry and Order
•The design should be balanced and complete; otherwise,
the user will spend time and effort trying to perceive an
overall picture.
Our brain will interpret the image on the left
as a rectangle, circle, and triangle, even when
the outlines of each are incomplete because
those are simpler shapes than the overall
image.

13. Common Fate
While common fate was not originally included in gestalt
theory, it has since been added. In UX design, its
usefulness can’t be overlooked. This principle states that
people will group together things that point to or are
moving in the same direction.
In nature, we see this in things like flocks of birds or
schools of fish. They are made up of a bunch of individual
elements, but because they move seemingly as one, our
brains group them together and consider them a single
stimulus.