Everyday Data Visualization

2 How we perceive information

This chapter covers

• Preattentive attributes of color, form, spatial positioning, and movement
• Gestalt principles of enclosure, proximity, similarity, symmetry, connection, closure, and continuity

Your brain is truly a wonder. How it works together with your eyes to decode patterns of light into actual information and data is, of course, well beyond the scope of this book. What we will talk about in this chapter is how your brain prioritizes and categorizes those patterns of light passed in through the eyes. We’ll learn about preattentive attributes, which are the things our brains notice first about what our eyes see (e.g., color, form, spatial position, and movement). Then, we’ll talk about the gestalt principles, ...