Sequential Figure Ground

The Sequential Figure ground project aimed at using gestalt principles and the concept of figure-ground, where the arrangement of positive and negative space within a composition creates ambiguity as to which is which. The objective was to create a cohesive design spelling out the word “Typography” with accompanying numbers for each letter. My original design had good figure-ground relationships, but the different squares lacked cohesion and didn’t flow well together when lined up. In my updated version, I’ve redesigned and rearranged the elements in order to create more cohesion and flow within the composition.

Original Design

Updated Design

What Changed?

Flow improved overall

More dynamic and connected movement between tiles

Unaligned elements make rougher transitions


Elements aligned to make transition more seemless




Simplified/more obscured and abstracted letterforms

Tiles were more stagnant and seemed stacked