Draw a line around a group of objects and they become a group, regardless of what those objects actually are or how they relate to each other. The Law of Common Region is a Gestalt principle formalized by Stephen Palmer in 1992, and it describes how the brain treats a bounded area as a powerful grouping cue on its own. A clearly defined region creates a perceptual unit: elements inside belong together, elements outside don't, and this holds even when the enclosed elements share nothing else in common, and even when a stronger cue like proximity would suggest a completely different grouping.
Law of Common Region
How bounded regions create instant visual groupings in any layout
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Designers Academy
18 June 2025 · 3 min read
DesignPrinciples
In brief
The Law of Common Region is a Gestalt principle that describes how a clearly defined, bounded area causes elements within it to be perceived as a single group, overriding other visual cues.
