Using Gestalt theory to teach document design and graphics |
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Authors: | Patrick Moore Chad Fitz |
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Affiliation: | 1. Teaches document design, instrumental discourse, the politics of professional communication, and instruction writing , University of Arkansas , Little Rock;2. Technical writer at Systematics Inc. , Little Rock, Arkansas |
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Abstract: | Gestalt psychology principles of figure‐ground segregation, symmetry, closure, proximity, good continuation, and similarity provide a simple yet powerful analytic vocabulary for discussing page layout and graphics. The six principles apply readily to typography, white space, data tables and maps, the relation between graphics and text, and other facets of textual design. The principles explain many difficulties that readers have in processing texts and graphics, and they explain why well‐designed pages and graphics are effective. |
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