What is white space?

Also known as spacing or whitespace, white space refers to unused areas in a document or the space around an object. It aids in dividing paragraphs, graphics, and sections, reducing visual clutter. Skilful white space usage in a document maintains reader engagement and facilitates quick information retrieval.

What role does white space serve?

Enhanced Comprehension: Balanced white space enhances scannability and boosts readability. Research indicates it improves reader comprehension by almost 20%.

Focus and Attention: White space directs the reader’s gaze to content, allowing your message to stand out prominently.

Hierarchy Building: It indicates content importance, aiding understanding by highlighting crucial sections.

Element Separation: White space visually groups related elements and distinguishes separate components.

Elegance and Sophistication: Premium brands often utilize minimal text and ample white space, conveying a sense of quality, as seen in Apple’s branding.

Role of white space in presentation

Enlarge the margin.

Books and magazines serve as a prime example of this. The margin, which is the empty area between the text and the page’s edge, significantly enhances the readability of dense content. When creating your presentation, contemplate increasing the space between the screen’s edge and the content.

Even amidst densely formatted text, broader margins offer visual respite to readers, facilitating easier information digestion. However, margins are more than just visual; they also hold practical value. If you intend to provide a printout of the presentation to your audience, leaving room at the page’s bottom for readers to hold the material prevents their fingers from obstructing crucial content.

Allocate vacant space atop a colored background

Employed appropriately, color can distinguish between an enthralling presentation and a lacklustre one. Yet, faced with numerous options, individuals often opt for overly flamboyant background colors, neglecting message clarity. To guarantee visual allure and information dissemination, select a solid backdrop color facilitating effortless text reading. Once the backdrop is chosen, utilize only half of the slide for content placement. This generates ample space around the text, streamlining the slide, and simultaneously introducing an attention-grabbing element.

Use single words instead of sentences

Human voice surpasses written words. Spare audience’s dual tasks: listening and reading, often asynchronous. Slides should complement, not script. Few keywords suffice, echoing speech. Aim for succinct, bold text, summarizing topic.

Split your content across multiple slides

If you find it challenging to condense the content, consider splitting it into multiple slides. Address content and design challenges separately, as they each have their own complexities.

Implement proper text formatting

Utilizing proper margins and generous spacing between paragraphs and lines enhances text presentation using white space. In addition to grouping ideas through paragraphs, you can emphasize headlines and titles by widening letter spacing. For optimal legibility, maintain line spacing at 130-150% of your font size.

Using whitespace for better layouts

Enhancing presentation layouts with whitespace is straightforward by incorporating page margins and gutters into your slides. This approach guarantees ample space surrounding slide elements. While grids are useful, they might not suffice for managing inter-object spacing. A consistent measuring system proves beneficial, maintaining uniform empty spaces between elements.

Using whitespace for better storytelling

While whitespace can be a valuable tool when employed effectively, its improper utilization in presentations can hinder audience comprehension. You might have encountered this situation personally, even if the issue wasn’t immediately apparent. When content appears disorganized or slightly misaligned on a slide, it not only looks irregular but also disrupts content hierarchy and coherence.

How important is white space in design?

White space serves as a vital element in design, functioning as a cohesive force binding the entire layout. It cultivates equilibrium, directing attention to design’s focal elements.

Whitespace’s significance in design isn’t always immediately apparent, particularly to non-designers. Nevertheless, as we’ve suggested, whitespace encompasses several crucial roles within a design.