Proximity

- by Kayla

The law of proximity states that when we perceive a collection of objects, we will see objects close to each other as forming a group. Proximity primarily are used to organize the materials on the page. They help tell our eyes where to stop. We can use proximity to indicate a relationship between items. Again, the principle of proximity tells us to put related items close together physically. Things that aren't related should be farther apart. The amount of separation between items or groups tells people how the material is organized.

In the figure above, we perceive the MTV logo and the logo for the Europe Music Awards as forming a group in the top left corner and the logos of the sponsors as forming a group in the bottom right corner. The white space separating the two groups of logos is used to indicate grouping, and the proximity of the logos of each groups is thus used to this end. Therefore, a semantic separation of 'organisers' from 'sponsors' is achieved via structuring the graphical layout in accordance with this simple principle of perceptual organization.