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Tuesday 28 February 2012

Figure / ground relationships

For my Grade 10s .........
A little bit of Gestalt perceptual psychology ....



From Lupton's 'Graphic Design - the New Basics'

These fun photos look at the relationship between the figures (letters of the alphabet) and the ground (the white background).
However, all is not what it seems!

Answer these questions by  commenting at the bottom of this post.
Remember to log in as YOU.
You may work in pairs.


1. Relate the terms 'figure' and 'ground' to the concepts of positive and negative shape.
Refer to the letter 'G' as an example.       (allocate 5 marks ~ 50 words)

2. Explain the cleverness of this design in your own words.   (allocate 5 marks ~ 50 words)
Posted by at

37 comments:

  1. Leanne Bear28 February 2012 at 09:34

    1. The figure is the positive shape which is the white paper and the ground is the negative shape which is the dark background. This 'G' is created with implied lines.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown28 February 2012 at 17:46

      The figure is the G .. because that is the way our minds work .. the figure has meaning in a gestalt sense. The G is + and the white is negative. A mind game!

      Delete
  2. Sarah Schickerling28 February 2012 at 09:38

    the figure would be G,because it is a positive shape, even though it is a picture of the ground, it isn't the ground. the white background around the letter G is the ground. G is the figure because when you look at it you ignore the white background. From Siki and Sarah :)

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  3. vicky.m28 February 2012 at 09:40

    1)Vicky and Amy say: the G is the ground and the white is the figure creating the shape of the G with an implied line. there is contrast between the white and the colour creating the G.the positive shape is the white and the negative shape is the G that is formed by the surrounding white.

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    Replies
    1. Unknown28 February 2012 at 17:50

      One way of looking at it .... a mind game. However the figure usually has meaning .. gestalt. So the G would be the figure.

      Delete
  4. Leanne Bear28 February 2012 at 09:44

    2. This creative design is so clever because we did not realize that there are no lines and the letters are being made by placing white (noticeable) pieces of paper which indicate the positive shapes in a certain gestalt.

    Kelsey & Leanne :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. vicky.m28 February 2012 at 09:45

    2) Vicky and Amy say: the design plays a trick on ones eye because you see the G and think that it is the figure when actually the white is the figure and the G is cut out of the white and is placed over a surface that helps create the contrast between the implied G and the white surrounding it.

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  6. Sarah Schickerling28 February 2012 at 09:45

    QUESTION 2!
    the design is very clever because they have used the pieces of paper to create a shape against the ground. they have used the white paper to blend in with the white background. the white and the grass have a strong contrast. :D from Siki and Sarah :)

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  7. nontshi28 February 2012 at 09:47

    1. The paper is the positive shape and the G is the negative shape. The G is the ground and the white paper is the figure
    Nontshi and Tara

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  8. vicky.m28 February 2012 at 09:47

    this is an example of gestalt phsycology

    ReplyDelete
  9. kirsten Halley28 February 2012 at 09:49

    1. the G would be the positive image because it is the form that we can recognise .the negative would be the white background because we do not recognise or focus on the white, according to Gestalt psychology
    (from Zama and Kirsten)

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  10. Anonymous28 February 2012 at 09:50

    JADE and kate: 1) the white piece of paper is the positive shape and it is the figure. The grass is the background and it is the ground :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown28 February 2012 at 18:01

      Explain your reasoning using gestalt psychology.

      Delete
  11. nontshi28 February 2012 at 09:53

    2. it is implied that the G is being cut out of the white paper BUT in fact the white is a shape being held onto the grass...making it look like a letter! Very clever...
    Nontshi and Tara :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous28 February 2012 at 09:54

    2) the design is clever because at first glance you dont realise that there are no lines. the white piece of paper creates the shape of the letter.there is also a strong contrast between the paper and the background :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Lavania Rajah28 February 2012 at 09:55

    1.Jaylene and Lavania say the background, which is the letter "G", is the positive shape and the figure,which is the white paper, is the negative shape. According to Gestalt psychology, the figure is the shape that has the most meaning to us. In this case however, Gestalt is playing mind games with us because the figure is actually someone holding a piece of white paper on the grass which creates the letter "G".

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  14. kirsten Halley28 February 2012 at 09:56

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  15. kirsten Halley28 February 2012 at 09:57

    2.this is clever because there is no actual line it is implied line. our minds automatically assume that it is a particular image due to the gestalt perceptual psychology.at first we do not notice the hands holding the paper or the grass image.(kirsten Zama)

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  16. Lavania Rajah28 February 2012 at 09:57

    2. This design is clever because no outlines are used to create the letter "G". The piece of white paper is being held in place to create the letter.

    ReplyDelete
  17. KellyGraceHall28 February 2012 at 10:13

    1. The white piece of paper would be considered thye negative shape and the foreground as there is no actual figure, the grass would be the background and as a whole this creates an illusion of a figure.

    2. In using white pieces of paper cut into specific shapes and held in place it creates the illusion of a letter being made, though initially we just see a letter. Even though there are no outlines our eyes still see an alphabet as we don't see an image in parts first but as a whole.

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  18. Tove magnussen28 February 2012 at 10:17

    the background which is the darker image or colour is the negative shape and the white shape placed ontop of the darker colour is the positive shape and it creates an actual meaning to the letter 'G'. In this image there are no actual lines drawn so we say that they have used implied lines instead

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  19. Jessica Forster28 February 2012 at 10:20

    1)The positive shape would be the 'G' created by the dark background. Although the 'G' is the background it would be considered as the figure, because of the implied letter. The negative shape would be the white piece and therefore becomes the ground of the implied image, even though it is not the actual background.

    2)This image is very carefully constructed and clever, as it leads us to believe that the implied image is the negative image,when in actual fact it is the positive image. It also plays with the idea of figure and ground when we see the 3rd image creating both a 'C' and a 'K'. We do not know which image to accept, but we assume that it is a 'C' as the theme portrayed is 'the alphabet'
    From Rachel and Jessica

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    Replies
    1. Unknown28 February 2012 at 18:18

      Contrast also can be considered as part of the cleverness of the design. Colour and texture.........

      Delete

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