My Kind of Tingle

My Kind of Tingle

Ever had that warm fuzzy feeling when falling in love? That giddiness over the opposite sex? There is something special the body feels when observing something special. Until learning about the principals of Gestalt, I never was aware that I could feel such things for objects.

When I first saw this picture I instantly had a tingling sensation all over my body. I wouldn't declare that I was "turned on" but there was most definitely mental arousal.  

Like discussed in class, I really do see the curves of this car like I see the curves of my girlfriend. When designing this vehicle, I truly believe the designer took into account the audience he was going to be selling it to. 

Curved lines seem to be the basis of this masterpiece's form. Just as the curved hips of a beautiful woman, this machine pulls the eye of a man and never lets go. The circles of the wheels are carried out through the rest of the body of the car; there are no straight lines to be found. The law of similarity tells us these features will be very pleasing to all. 

Another thing we studied was the law of pragnanz. This law states that we tend to reduce reality into the simplest form we can. I really see this happening every time I look at the front of a car. I think the movie Cars demonstrates this so very well, every car has a face. It is so impressive to me that our mind automatically does this every time we see a vehicle. This Ferrari has the face of a super model!

The law of continuity is also playing a very large role in the design of the car. Beginning at the tip of the headlight a line is drawn, moving over the wheels, under the windows, and finishing at the beautiful rear end. This line is not only drawn with the reflected light of the vehicle but also by the features such as the window and the lights. Our eyes follow the path of least resistance down the entire line. 

Gestalt principles tell us we see things as a whole before we begin to break down the individual parts. It is unfortunate that we only see the entire picture once, for just a brief moment. Even the prettiest of things loses its beauty, but nobody can take away that moment of exaltation we get when seeing a beautiful car or girl for the first time. I think it is best said in a quote by James M. Cain, "Stealing a man's wife, that's nothing, but stealing his car, that's larceny."