What Is Whitespace and Why Is It Important

Nowadays, we are overwhelmed with so much information. It is estimated that over 1.7 billion websites currently exist. In addition, 400 million of those websites were active in 2021. When a content creator or a designer needs to create a new design or website, they compete against all other designers and content creators in the world.

So, what can they do in order to make their work stand out? One of the things that can make a huge difference in the design and layout of the content is whitespace.

Whitespace, also known as blank space or negative space, is the white space that separates paragraphs of graphics, text, or blocks. Whitespace is what makes a document look less overwhelming and crowded. Even though the concept may seem pretty simple, many content creators, designers, and authors don’t use this approach.

On the left side, we have text that doesn’t contain whitespace, while the text on the right side contains white space. As you can see, the text on the left that doesn’t have whitespace causes a strain on your eyes and is very boring to look at. On the other hand, the text on the right side appears appealing to the human eye.

The negative space, or the space between the elements on the screen, doesn’t have to be white, even though in most cases, it is. Whitespace can be a texture or color, but it’s a space that doesn’t contain any elements and doesn’t catch the attention of a reader or user. Below, we will go over some good and bad examples of using white space.

Good Examples of Using Whitespace

For example, our website is a great example of whitespace. Even though the design of the website isn’t really white, it’s the situation to call it “negative space” or “blank space. We give the reader’s eyes a place to rest, and we allow them to understand the message we’re trying to convey clearly.

Another great example of white space is Apple’s website. Apple has definitely set the standard when it comes to whitespace and the design of the website since it was one of the first endorsers of whitespace on its site in order to showcase a certain product.

Bad Examples of Using Whitespace

On the other hand, this is a bad example of using whitespace. As you can see, even though the website offers some amazing products, it’s hard to know which product to look at first since the site is so full. It feels overwhelming and crowded to look at.

• Appealing to the eye – When something is different, the eye of the reader is immediately drawn to it. The eye will automatically go to the thing that stands out when it meets a page full of text and images. Our brains tend to skip over large amounts of information at one time since they aren’t able to comprehend it, and whitespace allows your eyes to rest.

• Provides balance – You will need something to balance a website that contains several images or is full of text. Otherwise, the website will feel very overwhelming. Even though you can use blocks of text on your site, they still need to be balanced by using whitespace.

• Give emphasis – You can easily direct the reader or viewer to the thing that’s most important on your website by using a website around certain elements. People don’t want to spend time figuring out the message you’re trying to convey but instead want to be led to the main point quickly.

• Improves readability – By using whitespace on your site, you will ensure better understanding and readability of the content. When the message is easier to read for viewers, they won’t leave, and they will keep reading.

When a designer groups elements, they use both micro and macro whitespace. While micro space is used in order to separate elements of the same groups, macro space is used to separate groups. Both micro and micro space play an important role when it comes to the attractiveness of a website.

• Macro – The most common distinction of whitespace is macro whitespace. This is the space between bigger elements of images, graphics, text, and so on. Besides this, it also refers to margins and paddings. Below is an example of macro whitespace.

• Micro – On the other hand, micro whitespace is the space between elements that are smaller such as line height or leading, and letter spacing, or kerning. Even though the spacing isn’t so obvious as macro spacing is, this type of whitespace definitely improves the readability of the user. Take a look at this example of micro whitespace.

Whitespace can also be categorized into two different types according to the usefulness in a layout, and these two types are active whitespace and passive whitespace. You will mostly be concerned about active whitespace when you’re dealing with whitespace. Nevertheless, you will also need to pay attention to passive whitespace as well.

• Active – This is the space that you intentionally add to your design for structure and emphasis on certain elements. You make a conscious effort to give more focus to separate one element from another and bring focus to the content. Below is an example of active whitespace.

• Passive – This type of whitespace is a whitespace that naturally occurs. This is the space that surrounds a graphic element or logo or an area between words on a line. Passive whitespace also needs to work with your overall design. Following is an example of passive whitespace.

Besides the fact that whitespace creates balance, helps the design of the website, and develops harmony, it is also used to bring the attention of a viewer to a certain element, so it has a great significance.

If you want to deliver a clear message, your layout shouldn’t be overcrowded with elements. The main goal of whitespace is to make the site not look overwhelming but instead look simple and deliver the content to viewers in an enjoyable way.