Sixth Assignment - Gestalt Principles

For this week's assignment, we had to find 2 posters and using Gestalt/visual principles, describe whether we think it is a good or bad poster. It was also to be done in pairs and I did this assignment with Weifang.

Above is a poster that alerts residents of metal theft, educating them about what kinds of metal will most likely be the target of metal thieves and telling them to be on the watch for them. This poster was found at the lift lobbies of housing blocks. We feel that this poster is an example of a bad poster, where visual principles are poorly utilized.

Figure and ground
The size of the heading and images are similar, making it hard to tell which is the figure and which is the ground. There are also many things calling out for the attention of the passerby because of this lack of focus of figure and ground, making it difficult for the viewer to identify the focus of the poster.

Spatial
The orange star-shaped quote box is being overlapped by the images, giving it the perception that it is of secondary importance, when the text is the one that viewers should be looking out for. We feel that because they used orange, it indicates that the text is important, as orange is a bright colour that catches the attention of a passerby. However, due to the order in which the quote box is presented, it seems more that the images are the ones the passerby should be attracted to, but the images are not bright and do not have much information in it.

Proximity
Some of the images are closer to the quote box, while some are further away. Since there is no heirarchy of attention among the images, I feel that there should be a consistency in the distance the images are away from the quote box. This inconsistency also makes the poster feel very disorganized.

Continuity
There is a black line at the bottom of the poster, that cuts off the faded blue arrow in the background of the poster. We feel that the arrow could be used as a visual aid to guide viewers to the direction in which they should follow, but the black line cuts it at the bottom, which is quite disturbing. This lack of continuity has a jarring effect.

Disorganization
Lastly, the text in the middle of the poster goes beyond the constraints of the quote box, giving it a messy feel and also makes it look like it was hastily put together. Furthermore, the captions for the images are not consistent, some going as wide as the images are, some not, some above the images, some below. Overall, there is a lack of sense of order in this poster, with many elements fighting for the viewer's attention.

In this poster, the main aim is to market the product of Coke Light focusing on the attribute of it having a light taste. This poster was found at bus stops. They also used a celebrity to front the product.

Harmony
The main colours used in this poster are red, black and white, which are the colours of the brand, Coca Cola. This consistency of colours used present a harmonious feeling, and helps increase the recognition that these colours represent the company. The words also correspond to the picture of the model, who seems to be floating because of the 'light taste', which is presented through the empty area under the model.

Figure and ground
As the background of the poster is white, it is easy to identify which is the figure and which is the ground. By having this clear distinction, the viewer is immediately guided to the central focus of the poster, which is the model with the bottle of cola. This is also guided by the size of the model in comparison to the heading. By keeping the poster neat and uncluttered, this poster is able to drive its point of their product having a light taste, as the viewer does not need to find the particular element that is of importance from the poster.

Continuity
Every element of this poster is centre-aligned. This makes it easy for the viewer to look at the poster from the top to the bottom without having the eyes jump all over the place, as with the bad poster above.