Figure and ground can refer to:

• Figure and ground (media)
  Figure and ground (media)
  Figure and ground is a concept drawn from Gestalt psychology by media theorist Marshall McLuhan, which in his work underpins the meaning of his famous phrase, "The medium is the message." He used this concept to explain how a communications technology, the medium or figure, necessarily operates...
  
  , a concept developed by media theorist Marshall McLuhan
• Figure-ground (perception), referring to humans' ability to separate elements based upon contrast

Our brains classify what we see as either an object or the background. Objects have particular shapes while backgrounds are basically formless and serve to help the brain identify the object they see. Psychologists use the terms figure and ground to label an object and its background. Studying figure-ground-processes is one of the main issues in gestalt psychology

Gestalt psychology

Gestalt psychology or gestaltism is a theory of mind and brain of the Berlin School; the operational principle of gestalt psychology is that the brain is holistic, parallel, and analog, with self-organizing tendencies...

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An example of this phenomenon would be if you were watching some children playing soccer in a playground, then the children are the objects that you see and the playground with its trees, grass and fencing would become the background of the visual image you perceive. But if you were looking at the trees in the playground with the children playing soccer off to the side, the trees are now the object of your visual picture and the children become part of the background.

Often we receive ambiguous clues to help determine which is the object and which is the background in what we are seeing. One of the most important aspects in form perception is the presence of a boundary around the object. "If the visual field contains a sharp and distinct change in brightness, colour, or texture, we perceive an edge. If this edge forms a continuous boundary, we will probably perceive the space enclosed by the boundary as a figure."

• Figure-ground in map design
  Figure-ground in map design
  An effectively designed map is one in which the intended message is clearly communicated to the map user. By employing the concept of figure-ground, a viewer can easily distinguish between the main figure on a map and the background information...