MODULE: Gestalt theory

Step 11 of 16: Symmetry

Designers are commonly aware of their experimentations with the Gestalt Law of Symmetry in the context of typography. Even before use of grahics-editing applications, simple text-editing familiarises them with centering of text, for example. The centering of text creates a symmetry well suited to the creation of harmonic balance (consonance) required in conditions such as wedding invitations, where elegance is often necessary. This understanding of the impacts of symmetry on balance should further be translated into the composition of elements on a page, where balance and symmetry are not necessarily always a good thing. In Gestalt Law, Symmetry becomes even more interesting, as illustrated in the image below. Our mind very rapidly establishes a direction or "axis" along which symmetry can be established among elements and uses this to group them according to a common "spine" that binds them together.

Regardless of the attempts of these three figures to throw the viewer off, the centering of each group is immediately evident despite their varying rotations. What is even more intriguing is that the axis from which symmetry is derived can even suggest that the grouping of elements is either "stable/well-grounded" (center) or "falling/leaning" (right) and perhaps even "gliding/moving" (left).