Negative space, often referred to as white space, has as much importance in designing a website as the positive space (elements on your website) does.
Shouldn’t I Put As Much On My Site As Possible?
Definitely not! There is a balance you need to achieve between having too much content or too little content on your website.
Think about websites you’ve visited.
On those that have everything crammed into the smallest space possible. Where do your eyes wander to? Do you have trouble focusing on what you actually want to? Do your eyes skim over things and take nothing in?
On those that have little content. Do you spend time on the site? Do you have a quick glance and decide that it’s not something you’re interested in because there appears to be nothing on the site?
So why is a balance between negative space and positive space the answer?
Most people skim read sites. They don’t read everything that you put on the site, regardless of how well written it is.
So, when it comes to content, you want a clean design that makes it easy for the eyes to follow that doesn’t overwhelm or distract, while highlighting the important factors of your business.
But negative space doesn’t just mean spacing between elements; it also includes spacing between letters and characters.
Font choices and Headers
This is why the right font choice, and the use of headers, plays a key point in your design.
Headers help identify what is an important statement for your clients (or potential clients) to read. The right header will stop clients from skipping sections to read what you want them to.
The font choice though, helps make sure that it’s clear and easily identified as a main point to check.
Even the font choice through the rest of the site is important. Too much spacing and it makes the words hard to read, too little spacing and it runs the risk of appearing cluttered again.
Image Choices
I’ve spoken before of using the right images in terms of whether stock, or personal; high res or low. But in this part, it’s the overall size and also position and does it add value to your site?
Don’t use images just to use images.
Images can impact the balance of negative and positive space and end up distracting people from the content. But, it can add value to the balance overall, as a splash of colour and a way to deliver content without the need for a lot of words.
Overall, it’s the need to find the right balance for you and your clients.
That’s why design work can take longer than you might think, however, it’s worth it when it all comes together properly.
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