Perception requires thinking

1.  We search for focal points (example)

2.  We draw on past experience (with nothing to focus on, perception breaks down)

• when dealing with ambiguous images you rely on your past experiences with objects (culture)

3.  We use vision to complete the task at hand--and little more (figure 2.3, pg. 50): notice that if you are asked to complete a certain task that sometimes you ignore other attributes based on the end goal.

Finally, Perception is not confined only to our sense but rather entails various kinds of thinking, among them selecting a focal point, recalling stored images and experiences, and completing the task at hand.  This is important to you as a designer because the images you create will engage your readers in active decision making, note rote physiological responses.  As a designer you are stimulating your readers to think visually.

The Visual Field

1.  When we perceive things in the world, we do so within a visual field--our range of vision that in any perceptual moment will likely include an array of shapes, lines, patterns, and textures. (ex. 2.4, 2.5, and 2.6)

to laws gestalt. . .