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Topping the list of important elements is perhaps the most unlikely design element of all: nothing. Well, we don’t mean nothing exactly, but rather, the empty space between the elements on your page—often referred to in design circles as white space or negative space. This space serves to separate your content and is the backbone of an accessible and visually pleasing website.
The benefits of negative space
In design, negative space has a number
of benefits for the audience reading
your text:
• It provides contrast between your
page background and the other
elements in your layout, as well as a
resting point for the reader’s eye.
• The empty space around headlines
and subordinate headings provides
emphasis for the text weight and
color against the page background.
• Page margins and column spacing
enable the reader’s eye to follow the
organization of your layout.
• Paragraph indents and space
between paragraphs enable the
reader to recognize changes in topic
and mentally digest your text in
sections.
• Leading—the space between
lines of text within a paragraph—
emphasizes the horizontal flow of
text within a column
• Word spacing and letter spacing
emphasize individual words.
Note: Though negative space is also known
as white space, that doesn’t mean that it has
to be white. White space can be any color.
