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White Space: Why do we need it?

“But wait Mr. Advertiser, how can I use -
white space  to create more effective ads?”

I guess we need to start at the beginning; what is white space? … and how is it used? The concept of white space in advertising and communications revolves around the idea of creating space around important ideas …either images or text, resulting in an island of focus. These areas can be found in virtually any medium we are informed or entertained by; mobile devices, desk top screens, newspapers, magazines, tablets, billboards, etc.

The idea of white space evolved from early magazine and newsprint layouts, where advertisers sought to highlight ideas and cater to emotional responses by creating negative space with no content or design in it. But today the concept of “white space” applies to any medium since most use white as the default background. While “white” is the baseline, the concept applies to any solid background colour that will serve to hold visual content.

The idea of white space has been around in advertising since its inception and in the early days; using ads designs which made great use of white space was considered elegant. We often revisit ad layouts from the early years and marvel at their unique and interesting lines and use of colour.

As time has progressed and the medium(s) and the message(s) have become more complex and audiences more fragmented, owners and executives of businesses large and small have decided to get more involved in deciding what goes into advertising content and layout without a clear understanding of design and layout principles. With this increase in the number of people involved, more advertising messages in general, the perceived need to get more information into messages and a lack of understanding about how messages are absorbed by audiences, has resulted in advertising becoming a more crowded and less effective medium for some. 

Now I am sure you are saying to yourself, right this minute “But wait Mr. Advertiser, how can I use white space create more effective ads?”  There are a few ways to improve your communications by using white space more effectively. 

1. Consider more carefully the recommendations of your designer or agency – they have your company’s or product’s interest at heart, and they have experience and study data to support their recommendations
2. When you develop copy for an ad – edit it  to a bare minimum and then cut your copy down by 50%
3. Try and have “one” focus for your ad – one message – people scanning mediums, do so quickly and will not stop to consider crowded and confusing content
4. Be consistent with your message across all mediums – its noisy out there and you need to be communicating the same message across all mediums to have impact
5. Create real white space in your design – collages, and multiple images take white space away by confusing the “audience eye”
6. If you are considering adding a paragraph – make it a  short sentence
7. If you are considering adding a sentenced make it a short title
8. If you want to include 10 bullets highlighting features- use 3 bullets instead
9. Try and limit contact information – depending on your products and sales methods a location may not be necessary
10.  Use white space in your work environment as well- keep a clear desk o help promote the application of white space in your thinking
11. Keep you communication short and to the point– business correspondence such as e-mails are a form of advertising- your clients infer a lot about you in your correspondence

While white space may seem like an oxymoron- white space with no content helps focus visual and mental attention on the content that is there!