The space surrounding this block of text is just as important as other factors such as appropriate use of color, type and graphics. I know, there is a tendency, specially on the web, to fill every single corner with text. “White space is evil,” seems to be the rallying cry,“it must be removed!” “Down with white space!”
The funny thing is that, most of us have been taught since elementary school to use white space. I remember how my teachers would always insist that we draw a 1.5″ margin on the left hand side of every page. They drilled it into our minds, until it became a habit that I have been unable to break, even to this day. Which is actually a good thing, since my handwriting is atrocious.
So why is white space so important? Part of the reason is pshychological, and part of it is physical: the text needs room to breathe. When text crowds all the way to the edge, it leaves us feeling crowded and cramped. Long passages of text, written edge to edge can actually tire the eyes.
Try it for yourself. Take a sheet of plain paper, and write several lines of text from one edge of the page to the other, without leaving any space at the top or the left and right margin. Now take another sheet of paper and right in the middle, write a few lines of text right in the middle, leaving a generous amount of white space on all sides (say 21/2″ on the left and right, and 4″ on the top.) Now compare the two pages. Which one is easier to read?
By the way, note that white space doesn’t always have to be white. It can be any other color. White space refers to any empty area (colored or white, opaque or transparent) that is devoid of text.
This column itself, you might notice is surrounded by a generous amount of white space. This combined with a smaller column width, improves the readability of the text and makes it that much easier to read.
Another reason for using white space is related to a topic that I will revisit in more detail in a later column: contrast. Surrounding a block of text with a lot of white space, can actually draw the reader in, especially in a crowded layout such as a newspaper, where every nook and cranny is jam-packed with information.
Like this text, for example.
You might find your eyes being drawn to the text above. That’s the power of white space. Often times, in newspapers like the Wall Street Journal or New York Times, you will find full page ads with almost nothing else on the page except one lone sentence of text. You might think it rather silly, that a company would pay thousands of dollars to pay for this full page ad, and then not take advantage of it by filling it with text, messages and what not. And yet, you might find it impossible to skip that ad, as you browser through the paper, try as you might. That’s the power of white space, baby (and contrast.)
So the next time, you find yourself preparing a report, a newsletter, or an ad for a garage sale, think about white space. The first time you do it consciously, you might find it difficult (I know. I did.) But eventually you will get used to it, and wonder how you did without it.
.:: from “designmatters“