Design Nomenclature / Composition
Uniform connectedness
Also called connectedness, grouping by connection
- Composition
- Systems & Spec
- 2D & 3D
This entry has not been translated yet and is shown in English.
A visibly connected region — elements joined by a line, a bar, or an unbroken fill — reads as a single unit. Palmer and Rock proposed it in 1994 as prior to the classical principles: connection groups first, and proximity and similarity only get a vote on what is left.
Not to be confused with
- ProximityElements near one another read as a group before any other cue is weighed. Distance does the work, and it is relative: a field is parsed by comparing gaps across it, not by measuring any one. Where proximity and similarity conflict, proximity usually wins.
- SimilarityElements sharing a visual attribute — shape, size, value, hue, orientation, texture — group across distance. The grouping strengthens with the size of the difference from non-members rather than the closeness of members to each other, so a single distinguishing attribute, pushed far enough, outruns layout.
- Common regionElements inside a shared bounded area group together even when proximity and similarity argue otherwise. The boundary can be a rule, a tint, or a shadow, and need not be closed. Palmer added it to the classical set in 1992; it reliably beats proximity when the two are set against each other.