Without quality content, you don't have a website. Become a better sentient writer (and designer) in the digital world. Because every word counts.
White Space Creates a Functional Design
White space, also referred to as negative space, is an important design concept. Negative space is the absence of active design elements that demand nothing from the user. The term refers to the amount of space, or padding, around visuals, tables, forms, headlines and content on a webpage or on paper (and it does not have to be white). It is more of an intuitive design choice than a hard rule, and every designer applies it differently.
There is no standard for how much white space you should apply around the elements in your layout. The challenge is applying too little or too much white space. Too much white/negative space makes your content elements appear distant, separated and hard to scan. Too little makes your content difficult to read. A well-balanced amount of negative space, however, has the power to declutter your design and give it an instant professional, elegant feel without superfluous distractions.
But white space is more than just a design element. Negative space helps your readers digest your content better. Good use of white space between paragraphs, headlines, subheads and in the page's left and right margins increases reading comprehension by almost 20%. Readers find it easier to focus on, scan and process generously spaced content, even if that means they must scroll more.
The layout on a web page may not immediately influence your site's performance but does influence user satisfaction and experience. And if your readers enjoy visiting your site, they will return.
Four simple steps to help ensure you use the right amount of white space:
- use negative space to separate content elements with a focus on visual hierarchy, content flow and structure
- leave related elements closer together (reduce the negative space) to make their connection/proximity apparent
- use a consistent amount of white space around images and visuals
- leave ample white space around calls-to-action or submit buttons and in form fields (mobile users will navigate and use your website with their fingers on smaller screens)
Creating the right amount of white space on a website is part of user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design. There will be more on basic UX/UI design in an upcoming newsletter, with best practices and how to avoid rookie mistakes.
With that in mind, that's all for today.
Tekla Szymanski
Content+Design™
New York・Berlin
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Content + Design
Tekla Szymanski
Without quality content, you don't have a website. Become a better sentient writer (and designer) in the digital world. Because every word counts.
Hi Reader, Reader, as a subscriber, you know my pledge is never to promote my services or market myself through my newsletter. I aim to land in your inbox every other Wednesday with valuable, actionable information about content + design topics of interest to anyone who wants to improve on or plans to create a content-rich website. This email is different. I’d like to share with you a new service that I offer, for a flat rate fee, to anyone reluctant to start a larger project, who has budget...
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