Gestalt and logo design

In my last couple of posts I've talked about gestalt theory in graphic design, the notion that the viewer is able to see separate elements as a whole, unified image. This theory opens up possibilities for a designer to almost play tricks on the eye and create clever creative compositions. This particularly applies to logo design, where it is important to form a recognisable mark that reflects the company's ethos and build a brand around it.

I thought I would look back at some of the logos I have designed during my time as a practising designer and see how gestalt theory has informed some of my creative decisions, and what principles I can relate back to my work.

PROXIMITY

Proximity principle is the idea that as long as the elements are close together they will be perceived as a whole image. Within logo design this is most famously used in the lines of the IBM logo, and the many icons that make up the U in the Unilever logo.

I used the proximity theory for the logo below (Fig.1), for a charity called Youth Options, who improve the lives of young people within the community. I constructed a Y and O out of different coloured shapes and lines, that form a whole logo mark. These lines and shapes were then pulled out and used across their marketing materials to form a recognisable brand.

Fig.1

CLOSURE 

The law of closure describes the ability of the viewers mind to form a whole image from as little information as possible. The brain will naturally try to piece the available shapes together to create a recognisable pattern. As long as you give the viewer enough information, they will fill in the rest themselves. You can see this famously used in the Fedex logo, with the hidden arrow.

I used the principle of closure in the logo below (Fig.2) for a client who provides independent pet services and dog walking. Although the logo isn’t a closed shape, you can clearly make out the female figure alongside the dog and cat. The client felt strongly about the personal touch her own clients receive with her and building up a trustworthy relationship with them and their pets, hence why the logo incorporates a recognisable image of herself.

Fig.2

Closure principle is also commonly used in typographic logo marks, similarly in the example below (Fig.3) I pitched to Havant & South Down College. The two colleges had recently merged and required a brand refresh to reflect that. I combined the initials of the college by punching through the S from the rest of the letters, however there is enough information for the viewer to read HSDC as a whole mark.

Fig.3

SIMILARITY

This principle relates to the viewer seeing seperate objects of a similar shape, colour, orientation, value or size etc as a whole. The more alike they appear the higher chance they are seen as one group.

Below is a logo for a commercial client (Fig.4) who produces high quality, composite materials, which commonly have a weaved appearance. The logo uses several blue, diamond shapes to form an abstract weave type material. Even though some of the diamonds are slightly elongated and a darker blue, they are similar enough to still be grouped along with the lighter diamonds to form a whole image.

Fig.4

Another example could perhaps be identified in the Talent-ed logo below (Fig.5), a charity who offers tutoring sessions to disadvantaged young people. The E and D in the logo is similar in letter case, colour, typeface and orientation so the viewer recognises them as a whole, forming the screw/thread base of a light bulb. However, this could arguably be due to proximity or multi-stability, explained next.

Fig.5

MULTI-STABILITY

Multi-stability refers to the ability to see two different things in one object. The viewer can have different experiences simultaneously when looking at the object to trigger different interpretations. The mind darts back and forth before deciding which is more dominant.

I played with this idea in the logo below (Fig.6) for a medication pack, designed to alert the patient when it’s time to take their next pill, and notifies their loved ones when medication is missed or skipped through a shared app. I formed a logo mark from two capsule shapes, recognised as pills/medication, that then come together at an angle to form a heart, commonly used in the health industry. This is then combined with the curved lines that signifies an alert/alarm.

Fig.6

FIGURE/GROUND

This principle is more commonly known as positive and negative space, which is where the eye separates the object (positive) from its surrounding background (negative). This is famously used in the WWF panda logo.

I used this principle in the logo below (Fig.7) for an industrial tool and equipment supplier, called Bison. The positive being the punched out/white space and the negative being the surrounding yellow background, including the eye and horn, which together is recognisable as a bison form.

Fig.7

I really liked this exercise, mainly as it felt good to look back at past work (some from many years ago!) and reflect on the different design techniques and skills I have developed to form effective logos and brands. I feel I have successfully demonstrated how gestalt theory has informed my logo design work, and how the principles have been applied to many of the logos we all view in our day-to-day lives.


REFERENCE
Paget, I. (2017, April 14). Gestalt Theory in Logo Design. Retrieved from https://logogeek.uk/logo-design/gestalt-theory/