Every single day we notice a new logo making it appearance around the web. Most of us will instantly judging the design of the logo itself and start to analyze what makes it effective or how will it affect the company. Creating a logo design is a matter of building a strong visual identity of a company. It surely is not an easy task among other graphic design categories. A designer have to really ‘get into’ the company’s mind and character to be able to design and deliver the effective and proper logo for them.

The very basic aspect for a logo designer to learn is to understand how a visual image work for the community to process and comprehend. How will they interpret what they see from a certain images or shapes. Visual perception help designers in the logo making process to determine people interpretations on:

- How the viewer perceives the imagery, the perceptual organization done by the viewer,
- How the arrangement of elements is perceived as a whole,
- Perception is based on our desire to separate the figure from the ground.

To understand the visual perception, there are 5 properties as to direct a person’s perception of the image based on Gestalt law. Below are the 5 properties of the Gestalt law:

1. Similarity

Similar elements can be grouped together to be perceived as either figure or as ground. It creates a redundancy and predictability of visual information.

2. Proximity

The proximity of these lines creates a shape of a cow, without adding detail or compromising the simplicity of the design.

3. Symmetry

Symmetric arrangements are often used in logo design. Again, symmetry creates a redundancy and predictability of visual information. This increases simplicity and clarity.

4. Closure

People complete the visual organization in a predictable way. Designers exploit this to simplify the logo. The viewer will fill in details, so the logo can exclude usually important elements, like a face, hands, or others.

5. Continuity

Paths, directions and shapes are more easily perceived as being continuous. Continuity can direct viewer’s visual path over
imagery. As shown on the logos above, the Water Drop logo lead us to focus on the big W first, then move down to the water drop under it. While on the CityCliq, it lead us from seeing the logo as a city then continues showing as a hand cursor.

Once a designer understand what visual perception will the logo achieved by the audience, there are bigger chances that the logo they have designed is a strong, unique and appropriate identity. To support this, there must be an excellent communication between the logo designer and his client which will help both side to achieve a successful logo when:

- It allows the immediate recognition of the company,
- It express the company’s character or attitude,
- It conveys a feeling of familiarity and credibility,
- It becomes a guarantee marker.

Conclusion

To achieve a strong and appropriate identity of a company, a basic aspect that logo designers need to fully understand is the visual perception and the Gestalt law. In addition to support it to be a successful one, both logo designers and his client must incorporate a good communication.

What’s your opinion of visual perception on logo design? Feel free to let us know your thoughts on the comment section.