The Laws of Seeing

The Laws of Seeing, by Wolfgang Metzger, is a book that he claims is about human nature. The book describes and explains perceptual studies related to our understanding of why we see the way we do. It draws from Gestalt theory, in that the objects we perceive are not the objects themselves, but rather how our brains construct the objects.

The studies Metzger discusses depend on perceptual research that is shared through photographs and drawings. These examples let the reader “visualize” what he is talking about. We can then make our own personal judgment on what he has demonstrated. Most of the examples suggest that the brain needs to organize and provide proof that this process naturally occurs without our involvement.

Metzger explores the Gestalt principles of: Proximity – things that are close to one another are perceived to be more related than things that are further apart; Closure – when viewing a complex arrangement of individual elements, humans tend to first look for a recognizable pattern; Similarity – things that are similar are perceived to be more related than things that are dissimilar; Figure and Ground – elements are perceived as either figures (distinct elements of focus) or ground (the background or landscape on which the figures rest); and Continuation – elements arranged on a line or curve are perceived to be more related. He also discusses topics such as ambiguous figures, hidden forms, camouflage, and shadows and depth.

I particularly enjoyed reading the chapter Laws of Structure in Children. In cases where, visually, the law of continuation determines the percept, with touch, different shapes are perceived because of law of closure. I was fascinated by the developmental states in shape formation as seen in Figure 59 on page 47, where I could imagine feeling the box as it is described and trying to draw what was felt. Now, I imagine that same experience as a 6 -10 year old. In the figure shown above, a child tries to draw the shape he felt, an excellent example of this law at work.

This classic study on visual perception remains a solid base for understanding how we view things and demonstrates how it is extremely important as designers to learn the gestalt principles of perception. The authors’ view is complementary with the book The Ways of Seeing in that both books explain in different ways that the way we see is both psychological as well as physiological.

If you start paying attention to your designs while keeping the thought of the Gestalt principles in mind and apply these insights to your work, you should begin to easily recognize why some designs or layouts work, while others do not. These principles will help take the guesswork out of good design. Knowing this material will help designers distribute their elements on the page better and, when things aren’t working, the designer will be able to understand why and correct it.