White space in editorial design

What is meant by white space in media design?

As the name suggests, white space is the white or "empty" space between images, graphics, or text. However, white space is much more than that. It's an important design element that's often underestimated, but has gained increasing positive attention in recent years.

Advantages of white space

Room to breathe

White space gives the content room to breathe. This gives the content more weight, almost more authority, and appears more credible.

More enjoyable reading

The reader is not overwhelmed by too much text and photos on one page, which makes reading noticeably more enjoyable.

Set focus points

You can direct the reader's focus very specifically to certain elements. Readers are subtly guided through the article. The white space, so to speak, helps control the flow of reading.

Requirements for white space in media design

Courage

Yes, you read that right. Working with white space takes courage. There are still people who dismiss white space as a pointless waste of space. You have to dare to give the content more room to breathe.

Maybe extra budget?

Working with white space can be expensive. As you have less space for text and images, you may need more sheets of paper. This costs extra for printing and postage (if you're dealing with brochures and magazines).

Good paper

A very important factor in media design for a brochure or magazine: You need high-quality paper with very good opacity. That means it has to be dense enough that the entire text on the back doesn't shine through the paper and destroy the white space.

structure

You need a good grid and a structure or concept for how white space should be used. If you leave everything blank here and there, it looks more like an accident than professional media design. There needs to be a rough concept for how and where white space is deliberately used.