Reading Summary

Gestalt: was mainly about the understanding that "the whole" is different from the sum of all of its parts. The German word Gestalt means, entired figure or configuration. The four principles of gestalt are: closure, continuance, proximity, and similarity. All these are visual elements that trick the eye into seeing beyond what they want to see. Depending on the position they are place and the amount of space between an object can make a big difference.

Formal  matters: talked about form and content. Form being a visual element made up of line, scale, shape, size, color, and composition. Content on the other hand was expressed through form or sometimes even as form. Formalist mainly focus on shape color and materials while Modernist think art history is a progress toward greater art in each medium.

Principles: Design is a process of purposeful visual creation. A good design is a visual depiction of "something". Visual Language is the basis of design creation. These are the principles, rules, or concepts that a designer must keep in mind.
Four groups of elements: are distinguished by conceptual elements: not visible, visual elements: what the eye can see, relational elements: for example position, space, and direction, and practical elements: are made up by representation: which can be realistic, stylized or near-abstract, meaning: the design must convey a meaning, and function: the design is made to serve a purpose.

Form & Composition: Geometric forms are made up of circles, triangles, squares, or combination of all these. Organic form is fluid in appearance. Harmony, simplicity, and rhythm make up a visual composition. Harmony indicated a grouping of related components while simplicity is a form with a limited amount of simple elements. Rhythm is the movement from an idea to a compositional area to the next.

Interview: Piet Mondrian talked about mainly how to express ideas or messages through art, it can be as something very realistic like drawing or trying to imitate nature of something abstract like Picasso who simply put geometric shapes together to make a form of a man. It is the message or the reaction the artist wants to bring out in the audience which makes the difference.