Gestalt Laws in Logos

What are the Gestalt laws? The Gestalt laws came to the existance after German psychologists studied the way the human brain perceives objects. According to Golombisky & Hagen (2010), "Die professoren discovered that the brain automatically and unconsciously simplifies, arranges, and orders objects the eyes see. Specific patterns of perception emerged from the research, which became the Gestalt Laws" (p. 76). I decided that I wanted to look at some logos that appeal to the eye because they contain patterns of perception- the Gestalt Laws. Take a look at these four logos- what do they all have in common?


Proximity: The Adidas logo has three lines on top, which are close together so we perceive them as a group, such as one triangle. The Dunkin Donuts logo makes the eye visualize the three objects together as a group. Although Dunkin and Donuts are two different words, they are close together with the coffee so it is easier for the eye to scan this entire logo. All of the lines in the center of the Starbucks logo makes it look like they all belong to the same group because they are so close together. In the Chili's logo, the letters, especially the "hili" all look like they belong to a group because the h is connected to the l, which is making a shape like the chili (get it?). Golombisky & Hagen (2010) state, "The idea is to avoid a busy cluttered layout by physically grouping items together that belong together" (p. 76). In all of these logos, the lines and objects all look as though they are one group, that they belong together.


Continuity- Golombisky & Hagen (2010) state in reference to the pattern of continuity, "Applying this concept can add a sense of direction and movement to your layout" (p. 76). Look at the Dunkin Donuts logo. The eye starts at the coffee on the left and moves across to read Dunkin Donuts. The eye flows across the logo and the colors help as well. If we look at the Adidas logo, our eyes start at the left and gracefully follow the triangle shape, ending at the end of the word. The Starbucks logo is in the shape of a circle, but your eyes are glued to the stars and then follow the circular shape to read the logo. The lines in the center also point to the Starbucks and Coffee (the hair of the figure in the center). Lastly, the Chili's logo gives movement by connecting the H and the L to represent another Chili. This gives such nice flow that it is easy for our eyes to just follow the direction of the logo.

Closure- Golombisky & Hagen (2010) state, "We mentally fill in the gaps in order to complete a perceived shape" (p. 77). In the Adidas logo, even though the shapes are physically connected to form a triangle, our eyes perceive the lines as one triangle. In the Dunkin Donuts logo, there isn't an actual rectangle surrounding the logo, but you can tell that the logo is a rectangle form. For Starbucks, the image in the middle isn't that obvious that it is a woman, or queen (if you see a crown), engulfed in coffee (that is the image that I perceive, although other people may see differently). The Chili's logo connects the H and L, giving off an image of a chili, just like the one that is attached to the I and S. Our eye perceives the Chili because that is what the restaurant offers (spicy foods) and that is the name of it. I never noticed that before I actually analyzed it using the Gestalt laws.

Similarity- The last Gestalt law that is seen in these logos is similarity. Golombisky & Hagen (2010) state, "Our minds group things with similar properties, such as color or shape" (p. 76). Just taking a look at the Chili's logo, we can see that everything is green, except for the mini Chili, which is red and green on top. This represents unity. Furthermore, the Dunkin Donuts logo has orange and pink throughout the whole logo. Our minds group the words and picture together because the same colors gives off unity. The Starbucks logo also adds unity because the outer circle is green and the inner is black. The letters and features of the figure are both white, so that is why we group these two things together. The Adidas logo is all black, with negative space in between the lines and letters. Once again, we group these objects together, representing unity.

 After doing this exercise, I am beginning to look at all sorts of logos. I never realized that Gestalt laws had any effect on the way people create logos. It makes sense- now I know why my eyes and mind perceive some logos and ads easier than others. There are actual properties that allow the mind to perceive some logos better than others. I will continue to look around at websites and different logos to see how they measure up with the Gestalt laws.

Reference

Golombisky, K., & Hagen, R. (2010). White Space is not Your Enemy: A Beginner’s Guide to Communicating Visually through Graphic, Web & Multimedia Design. Focal Press: New York, NY.