Design Nomenclature / Composition
Good continuation
Also called continuity, continuation, law of continuity
- Composition
- Form & Geometry
- 2D & 3D
This entry has not been translated yet and is shown in English.
Elements arranged along a continuous line or smooth curve read as belonging to one another, and the path preferred is the one that changes direction least. Where two contours cross, perception carries each straight through rather than reading a corner and two branches. Smoothness does the grouping, not nearness.
Not to be confused with
- ClosurePerception completes a figure across gaps, supplying contour that was never drawn. The effect is strongest when the implied shape is simple, regular, and familiar, and it survives interruptions far larger than most designers expect — which is why a mark built from fragments still reads as one form.
- Common fateElements moving in the same direction at the same rate group together, overriding proximity and similarity for as long as the motion lasts. The one classical principle that requires time, which made it near-theoretical in print and immediately load-bearing in interface work.