Conceptually, space and its various uses in design is easy to grasp, however, in practice, the successful balancing of positive and negative space can be difficult to achieve. In digital spaces like web design or UI/UX, similar patterns can be found in navigation and toolbars, which help users to quickly find what they’re looking for or perform common tasks. While margins allow us to hold our reading material without blocking any words with our thumbs. In turn, users ingrained into these patterns approach each format with a certain expectation.įor example, we understand that certain areas like running heads and folios utilize information like section titles and page numbers when looking at a spread in a magazine or a page in a book. Over time, designers have established format-specific conventions for the usage of space. By moving an element away from others, we communicate to the viewer that it’s different-indicating that the way they interact with it should be as well. The use of space can either draw or detract the viewer’s attention depending upon its use. Designers use proximity to group similar items and help viewers to more easily navigate and digest information. Beyond just the balancing of elements that appear next to one another, the primary function of space is the organization of information. So far we’ve covered some of the ways in which designers use positive and negative space to maintain a sense of balance, but understanding how to use space to create imbalance can be a useful tool as well. This balancing act of positive and negative space takes place at many different levels within any composition-everything discussed so far is applicable to logo design, illustration, and photography as well. Type designers make fine adjustments to every character individually to optically balance the negative spaces that occur within their shapes to ensure visual harmony when placed alongside other characters.Īs graphic designers use these typefaces, they in turn adjust parameters such as tracking and kerning to expand or contract the spaces between characters within a word, in conjunction with leading, which adjusts the spaces between lines of type. Designers should also pay special attention to the spaces that exist within the lines, words, and characters they consist of. In this article, an example of Positive Space would be the type and the resulting rectangular shapes it creates and is where the viewer is meant to engage, whereas the margins and spaces between paragraphs are examples of Negative Space, which provide moments of rest.įor designers, the job of managing the relationship between positive and negative space extends beyond just the placing of copy on a page. When we refer to space within the context of design, we’re simply referring to the shapes created by the elements placed within our composition. One of the most important of which is the use and understanding of positive and negative space. As designers, there are all sorts of tools that allow us to do this. Doing so effectively requires achieving a sense of visual balance and harmony amongst the components within a given composition. Graphic design is all about managing varying types of visual contrast to catch the attention of viewers and communicate the desired message.
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