{"id":19113,"date":"2018-11-27T11:08:54","date_gmt":"2018-11-27T09:08:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/?p=19113"},"modified":"2022-09-08T18:52:06","modified_gmt":"2022-09-08T15:52:06","slug":"white-space-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/white-space-design\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use White Space Effectively in Web Design"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re not a designer, making sure your website looks near-perfect can be a challenge. Using a quality theme can help a lot, but you\u2019ll also want to learn some basic principles if you want the best results. This includes understanding the concept of ‘white space’ design.<\/p>\n

White space is exactly what it sounds like, and despite its apparent simplicity, it\u2019s a vital part of any visual design. Too much can leave a page looking empty, for example, while too little can make your content appear cluttered. Achieving the right balance, on the other hand, can do a lot for your site\u2019s appearance and ease of use.<\/p>\n

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In this post, we\u2019ll introduce the topic of white space in design. We\u2019ll explore the concept in detail, and show you how to apply it on your own site. Let\u2019s get to work!<\/div><\/div>\n
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An introduction to white space<\/h2>\n

White space is a general design term that’s used in a lot of contexts. These include printing, art, and (of course) web design<\/a>. Even if you\u2019ve never heard the phrase before, you probably have some idea of what it means from the name alone.<\/p>\n

Take a look at the following page:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

This home page displays an image, a title, and some text, all of which is the page’s content. The ’emptiness’ surrounding the content is referred to as white space.<\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s important not to take this term too<\/em> literally. White space doesn’t actually have to be white \u2013 it can be any other background color<\/a> (or even a background image or design). It\u2019s simply the part of a page that\u2019s left empty. Given this, it\u2019s also sometimes called \u2018negative space\u2019.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to dismiss the blank parts of a page as unimportant. In a way, however, each page\u2019s white space is as important as the content it separates. Let\u2019s talk about why this is.
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Why white space is a vital design concept<\/h2>\n

When you\u2019re putting together a website<\/a> or building a blog<\/a>, it can be tempting to fit as much content as possible onto each page. There\u2019s a lot you want to share with your readers or customers, after all. For this reason, slipping into a \u2018more is better\u2019 mentality is easy.<\/p>\n

However, let\u2019s look at what happens when we take this philosophy to its natural extreme:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

This page is almost completely devoid of white space, and suffers as a result. It appears incredibly cluttered, and it\u2019s difficult to find what you\u2019re looking for. Upon reaching a site like this, most visitors are likely to leave immediately<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While this is perhaps an over-the-top example, pages not using enough white space are fairly common. This site also illustrates the point nicely:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

There\u2019s less going on here, but the elements are still squashed too closely together. This makes the page overwhelming to look at (and of course, the choice of colors and visuals don\u2019t help either).<\/p>\n

The point here is that using enough white space on your web pages is key to making them both visually appealing and easy to navigate<\/a>. Having enough white space between elements has also been repeatedly shown to increase reading comprehension<\/a>, and to have a positive effect on overall User Experience (UX)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Of course, you can also take this concept too far in the opposite direction. Too much white space can leave your design looking empty, disjointed, and unprofessional:<\/p>\n

\"Suzanne<\/p>\n

At the same time, Google\u2019s home page is almost nothing but white space, and is highly effective:<\/p>\n

\"Google's<\/p>\n

This just goes to show that how much white space is \u2018right\u2019 for any given web page depends on its goals and the type of content it includes. Finding the perfect balance between negative and occupied space should be at the forefront of your mind when building or redesigning your own website.
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How to use white space in design effectively on your web pages<\/h2>\n

As we\u2019ve pointed out, both too much or too little white space can become an issue. In reality, however, the problem is nearly always forgetting to use enough negative space between the other elements on your web pages. This is why white space in design largely revolves around balancing out content elements using white space.<\/p>\n

To get even more specific, there are actually two types of white space:<\/p>\n