In this very first post, I want to talk about whitespace.
But first. Take a deep breath.
Yeah, that’s right. Deep breath. C’mon now.
Inhale.
Exhale.
No need to rush … feel the air flowing in to you … let it fill you … expand along with it … let it reach deep, deep down … let it touch you.
Then let go. Just let go. Let all the tension out. Allow it to go with your breathing out.
No need to force it … just let go.
Now focus gently on your breath. Feel it. Really feel it. Don’t think about feeling it — just feel it. Yes, you are doing it right.
Breathe in … breathe out … each breath following the other, repeating that cycle, again and again … each one like the following, ancient, but also completely new.
Allow yourself to stay in this feeling for a little while. Sink into it. Embrace it. Ease down into yourself. There is nowhere else you need to be, and no one else you need to be. Let this moment be yours, let it be yours alone, and let it be here.
There we are.
Hello! Nice to meet you!
My name is David. I would love to talk a little about whitespace … and I would love it if you’d want to tune in.
So, whitespace … no – wait! first let me mention a few words on contrast:
Contrast is a principle you all know: black contrasts white … hot cold … soft hard … silence loudness … sweet sour — in general, any two opposites contrast — the further separate, the more contrasting.
What’s so interesting about constrast then? Well, contrast is an amplifier of course — just like sound is meaningless withouth silence and white seems more white when next to black, joyfulness would be meaningless without the contrasting sadness.
Now, back to whitespace:
Whitespace is a common term in graphic design. Technically it is the principle of leaving lots of empty space around graphical elements to make them stand out. Paper is white, so often this translates to empty white space, hence the name.
Examples of such whitespace can be seen everywhere in graphic design.
In the design of this site, whitespace works to separate the logo up left, the menu up right and the content in center from each other. Yeah, there are some gray lines up there too, but actually they serve mostly as decoration — remove them and the separation is still almost as strong.
What’s important to understand is that this intentionally blank space is not a waste of paper or of screen. Instead it is actually a part of the content in the sense that it helps the content being more visible and more easily understood.
Now I could continue by giving lots of examples of designs and explain how whitespace has been used, and then give you some concrete tips on how to apply whitespace in your own designs.
But that’s not what I’m going to do.
You see, because actually I don’t want to dwelve further on the details of whitespace here … lots of others have done that before.
No, what I’m aiming at is the very core of the principle of whitespace.
So what is whitespace really about then? Well, whitespace is at it’s core a lesson of applying contrast.
It is about making what is larger by juxtaposing it with its ultimate opposite — the nothingness. And just as the white amplifies the black, the nothingness amplifies what is already there … clears the clutter, the distraction, and focuses your attention on what is.
So what has whitespace got to do with me? you think.
Allow me to rephrase:
Is whitespace only for graphic design?
Absolutely not!
Really, in design, whitespace is a mere guest star; a much more general principle manifesting.
Whitespace teach us the importance of empty space … of silent time … of relaxation. And just like a good designer knows to value emptiness for creating contrast and amplifying the content, the good experiencer knows to create space around events to make them more significant.
So you see now, of course, that whitespace has all to do with the breathing I had you do earlier.
It has all to do with you. With you allowing yourself space … metaphorically but also physically — in space but also in time.
Opposites contrast. Opposites amplify. So let yourself allow space for the stillness you have found, and let it contrast and amplify the content of the rest of your day.
With these words I leave this first post and you tonight. And I leave you with a heart-felt encouragement to discover and see things for yourself — to not let anyone else dictate your view of the world and especially not of yourself.
You see, because it’s in your own experience things really are happening.
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