BASIC DESIGN II

ARCG 120 – 22-23 – SEM II

Department of Architecture and Interior Design
College of Engineering
University of Bahrain
 MAIN TOPICS
LECTURE 01

LECTURE 06
COLOR VISUAL TEXTURE
LECTURE 02

LECTURE 03

LECTURE 04

LECTURE 05
FORM & SPACE ANTHRO- CIRCULATION
PERCEPTION POMETRY &
SCALE
 MAIN TOPICS

LECTURE 05
COLOR VISUAL TEXTURE
LECTURE 01

LECTURE 02

LECTURE 03

LECTURE 04

LECTURE 06
FORM & SPACE ANTHRO- CIRCULATION
PERCEPTION POMETRY &
SCALE
 VISUAL
PERCEPTION
LECTURE 02
 Sight VS. Vision

Sight is one of the human senses Vision is beyond the eyesight

The ability to see images up close and Responding to visual information
far away
 How does it work?

Human eyes are the

basic mechanism
that are working like a
camera
How does it work? The Brain processes
that information
Visual System receives
wave lengths
information

Then translates it into

- Shape
- Color
- Size
- Distance
Visual Perception is

“A process of acquiring knowledge

about environmental objects and
events by extracting information
from the light they emit or reflect”
Stephen Palmer
Vision Science
University of California
 Inside the mind of
Visual Designers

Visual Perception is related to mental

ability of designer to generate images.

Philosophers and psychologists have

more clarity than visual designers
about the process of visual perceptions
 Inside the mind of
Visual Designers
Some external power forces the
designer to think about abstraction

Designers always aims to do something

“new" or to "reject” what is existing,

The search for something "new" is,

most of the times, an "accidental"
process.
 Inside the mind of
Visual Designers
Most of the philosophical reasoning
given by well-known painters has
emerged after the paintings are done
and not before completion.
 Imagination
& imitation
The relationship between
image and imagination:

• The final image in mind of

visual designer takes
shape after constant
argument or conflict with
past images in process of
imagination.

• The images in the mind

have history of images in
different forms.
Imagination &
imitation
One cannot view an image as if it is
the first image

The images approach us with a

history made up of similarity,
borrowings, biases, personal
addition and exclusions.

These images are more cultural in

nature than physiological.
 Sight & knowledge
There is a traditional and
philosophical distinction between
sight ( seeing ) and knowledge.

Human brain mostly translate

images based on experience and
knowledge

SPEED
EXERCISE!!
 Physiological aspects
The human mind is full of visual
images.

The difference between a designer

and a common man actually lies in
the mental skill of utilizing mental
images for the process of creating
something "new ."
Images of the mind

The Psychological study shows:

The image in the mind is not

"given" but it is "constructed" by
our mind, past experiences and
several other subjective aspects,
which differ from person-to-
person.
The human eyes never behave like a ‘passive
camera’. Our mind focuses on selective areas
from the entirely exposed images.
The human eyes never behave like a ‘passive
camera’. Our mind focuses on selective areas
from the entirely exposed images.
The Camera
Distinct Human Eye
The sharpness of the human eye
can see a 0.02mm thin line less
than the width of human hair
viewed from 30 cm away.

It can distinguish 250 colors.

Able to respond to a remarkable

range of light intensity.
'Highly unlikely objects tend to be
mistaken for likely objects‘

Homo Significance
Human beings are constantly driven by
the desire to seek meaning.

This fundamental concern triggers the

process of human visual perception.

Human mind restlessly tries to make

something meaningful when they face
any "meaningless" object.
 'Highly unlikely objects tend to be
mistaken for likely objects‘

Homo Significance
Human beings are constantly driven by
the desire to seek meaning.

This fundamental concern triggers the

process of human visual perception.

Human mind restlessly tries to make

something meaningful when they face
any "meaningless" object. Charlie Chaplin Optic Illusion
 Data & knowledge
Visual Data Knowledge

Passes from the retina Then the knowledge

to the brain where it is decides what we see,
structured into and what is
perception of a understood as seen.
meaningful whole.
Contrast
Contrast
 Visual Perception
of Depths
From birth to the age of 2 to 5, the
human eye gets trained in the brain to
understand the depth of vision.

How to determine depth?

• Relative size
 Visual Perception
of Depths
From birth to the age of 2 to 5, the
human eye gets trained in the brain to
understand the depth of vision.

How to determine depth?

• Relative size
• Familiar size
 Visual Perception
of Depths
From birth to the age of 2 to 5, the
human eye gets trained in the brain to
understand the depth of vision.

How to determine depth?

• Relative size
• Familiar Size
• Shadow
Shadow is an important depth clue.
 Visual & Environmental
Factors in Perception
The surrounding environment of the
object influences the perception.

There are certain illusions where

vertical line appear larger and
substantially longer because it’s
surrounding.
 Illusions of Impossible
Objects
The basic confusion or illusion in the
following figures arises because of,

Our attempts to interpret them as

three-dimensional figures.
Experiment:

On a piece of a paper,
Name the last figure in
the right side of the row.
Now, name the last figure
in the right side of the
row.
The result shows that our perception of
identifying or visualizing any object is related to
Prejudice and Context !!!!!
ge·stalt
Gestalt Principles
•Something that is made of many parts and yet is
somehow more than or different from the
combination of its parts.

•The general quality or character of something.

“The whole is other than the sum of the parts.” — Kurt Koffka
 Gestalt Principles
Gestalt principles of visual organization
is also known as the "Law of Simplicity”

According to Gestalt psychologists (Max

Wertheimer, Wolfgang Koher and Kurt
Koffka), people now deal with any
(abstract or symbolic) visual image
 Gestalt Principles

People try to separate a dominant

shape (a figure with definite contours)
from the background.
Gestalt Principles
Proximity Continuity Smallness
Similarity Closure Symmetry Surroundness
Gestalt Principles
Proximity Continuity Smallness
Similarity Closure Symmetry Surroundness

The columns or rows dominate

our focus. The features which are
close to each other are associated
or related.

Here we are more likely to

associate the lines which are close
to each other than those which
are further apart.
Gestalt Principles
Proximity Continuity Smallness
Similarity Closure Symmetry Surroundness
Gestalt Principles
Proximity Continuity Smallness
Similarity Closure Symmetry Surroundness

Items that are similar tend to be

grouped together

The circles and squares are coupled

naturally and we do tend to see
alternating columns of circles and
squares.

Without the two different recurrent

features we would perceive the figure
as either rows or columns.
Gestalt Principles
Proximity Continuity Smallness
Similarity Closure Symmetry Surroundness
Gestalt Principles
Proximity Continuity Smallness
Similarity Closure Symmetry Surroundness

When something is seen as a series,

our brain will perpetuate the series.

We are more likely to identify lines a-b

and c-d crossing each other than to
identify a-d and c-b or a-c and d-b as
lines.
Gestalt Principles
Proximity Continuity Smallness
Similarity Closure Symmetry Surroundness
Gestalt Principles
Proximity Continuity Smallness
Similarity Closure Symmetry Surroundness

Brain tend to see incomplete patterns

as a complete or an unified whole.
Gestalt Principles
Proximity Continuity Smallness
Similarity Closure Symmetry Surroundness

Brain tend to see incomplete patterns

as a complete or an unified whole.

Brain tend to see four broken

rectangles and a lonely box bracket ]
on the left.

In this case the principle of closure

dominates more than the principle of
proximity.
Gestalt Principles
Proximity Continuity Smallness
Similarity Closure Symmetry Surroundness

Brain tend to see incomplete patterns

as a complete or an unified whole.

If we now remove the horizontal lines,

brain tend to see couple lines and one
lonely line on the right.

In this case the principle of proximity

dominates more than the principle of
closure.
Gestalt Principles
Proximity Continuity Smallness
Similarity Closure Symmetry Surroundness

Smaller areas tend to be seen as

figures against larger background.

Brain likely identify black areas as

figure and white area as background.

However, brain also identify small

areas as figure and large area as
background.
Gestalt Principles
Proximity Continuity Smallness
Similarity Closure Symmetry Surroundness
Gestalt Principles
Proximity Continuity Smallness
Similarity Closure Symmetry Surroundness

The symmetrical areas tend to be seen

as figures against the asymmetrical
background.
Gestalt Principles
Proximity Continuity Smallness
Similarity Closure Symmetry Surroundness
Gestalt Principles
Proximity Continuity Smallness
Similarity Closure Symmetry Surroundness
Gestalt Principles
Proximity Continuity Smallness
Similarity Closure Symmetry Surroundness

Some people tend to see

surrounded area as figures.

In this figure the word is initially

confused by resuming the black
area as a ground.

Once it assumes the background

as surrounding area then you can
discover the world 'Tie .'
Reference
http://www.artinarch.com/visual_perception.html