{"id":1902,"date":"2018-08-15T13:54:33","date_gmt":"2018-08-15T13:54:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gemmaplum.nl\/business\/?p=1902"},"modified":"2018-09-13T17:00:17","modified_gmt":"2018-09-13T17:00:17","slug":"law-of-similarity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gemmaplum.nl\/business\/law-of-similarity\/","title":{"rendered":"Despair and the Law of Similarity or Equality"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Despair in Graphic Narrative<\/h3>\n

and the Law of Similarity or Equality<\/h4>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_single_image image=”1935″ img_size=”large” css=”.vc_custom_1534337378822{margin-bottom: 15px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1536858010186{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”]Andr\u00e9 Franquin, a frame from a comic from Die Laughing (1988)<\/small>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

We see things that are similar to each other as a whole; as a collection. Andr\u00e9 Franquin makes use of this in one of his comics from Zwartkijken<\/a> (1988) Translated as Die Laughing<\/a> (US Link<\/a>); The bottom layer of people forms a whole. They are not just random people; they form ‘the mass’, and as a whole they form a symbol used as stepping stones, not by random people but by a group of people; \u2018the happy few\u2019.<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]What is called the Law of Similarity in the Gestalt theory<\/a> has a parallel in the visual salience<\/a> and visual search<\/a> theory. Visual searches are easier if what is sought (the ‘target object’) looks different from the things that surround it (the ‘distractors’). A detail stands out if it is different from its surroundings. Deviation in colour, contrast, shape, size and ratio or a combination thereof, can cause an element to stand out from the whole and attract attention.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”1933″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1534334453080{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”]Gemma Plum, King Midas Screenprint – a study (2003)<\/small>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]The last apple of King Midas stands out. His wish that everything he touches turns to gold, backfired. The amount of despair represented by the number of gold apples, all failed attempts to eat. They no longer are some gold apples, they form a whole representing the enormity of the problem. The red dot becomes the centre of attention. Holding the eye while we realise what the King must realize. If he touches it, it will turn to gold and all hope is lost. But is it an option to stop trying?
\n<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]If a red object is to be found between many gold, then the selective attention ensures that you only have to pay attention to the colour. But if you had to find a red round object between gold square and red square objects, this will take more effort. You now have to look at two characteristics. In other words: the less difference there is in the background and therefore the more the background is seen as a whole, the faster a different detail is noticed, the more attention it gets and the more can hold.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1534335351798{margin-bottom: 15px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”]