Whether you’re in the process of a brand refresh, realignment, or building an identity from the ground up, whitespace is absolutely critical for the success of your brand.
Often the unsung hero when it comes to design, whitespace is the area that exists between the text, images and logos that make up a brand – the empty abyss where other design elements fear to tread. So why is making space for nothing so important? Well, here are just a few reasons.
It creates emphasis and legibility
Perhaps the biggest benefit of making the most out of whitespace is it tells your audience where to look – and for how long. As human’s, our eyes automatically regard whitespace as the backdrop of a design. It sets the scene for the elements to act in. This means your audience will know where to look, read and consume whatever message you’re trying to get out into the world. When you clutter a design with too many elements, it can overwhelm your audience, leaving them unable to interpret and remember your product or service. To put it simply, too much clutter makes for an unmemorable experience.
It provides a zen feeling of balance
It doesn’t matter if it’s print, digital, or anything in between – your designs need to feel balanced. Not only does this help your audience understand the information in front of them more effectively (as we just mentioned), but it allows the design as a whole to feel evenly weighted so it’s appealing to the eye – meaning more people are going to want to engage with it as soon as they lay eyes on it. The key here is to entice your audience.It reinforces a sense of luxury
Whitespace is often associated with luxury, and it’s easy to see why. Think about how an upper-class brand like BMW advertises their cars compared to a more affordable option such as Toyota. Luxe brands have enough confidence in themselves and their product or service to only tell you what you need to know.
They won’t give you a list with every feature under the sun because the logo says it already. They also operate on the assumption their audience is smart enough to do their own research. They don’t need a brochure covered in wall to wall text because by the time they visit the dealership they’ve already been on the website, checked out their Instagram, and spoken to Jeff at work who says it’s the only car he’ll ever drive.