Negative/White Space Tips?

[kennfletch]

I think I'm ok with it I'm not great. I just want to know if there are any easy tips or rules to remember. Like I know how to make a design interesting by using tricks suchs as putting something on an angle or making a closeup shot of something showing detail.

I'm just wondering if you guys have any or is it just an eyeballing thing? Thanks.

[budafist]

None that I can think of immediately. Best bet is to post what you're working on and we can give tips on improvement - if there are any to be made that is!

[SurfPark]

1. Balance! Create harmony through a work with white space. Even asymetrical design needs to be balanced.

2. Gravity. Remember that design is typically bottom-heavy due to everyone's assumption of gravity. You might need to visually balance out white space on the lower portions because those tend to look smaller to the eye.

[budafist]

I really like assymetry. It's not done nearly enough. When I do a business card that doesn't have all the text centred, too often the client comes back asking for everything to be centred! Grrrr...

[Drazan]

whitespace is: balance, perspective, and directional

balance the pieces of the design

allow perspective from one object to another

and lead the end consumer a long a path in the design; this can be tricky but very effective.

[kennfletch]

perspective?

[Liquid Layers]

what an incredibly broad question.

"How do I use negative space?"

That's kind of like saying "How do I use line weight in my design?"

Negative space could create balance, say a 2 page car ad, where one page is empty, and the next page features a blurred car.


You could also use Negative space to create a gestalt effect. Like in this Dali photo.

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/8/81/Dali_women_skull.jpg

[Ned]

Thank you for that picture, Liquid. Now I can finally sleep well, having seen it!! :D

[budafist]

:D titties and bums. That's all I can see...

[Liquid Layers]

yeah, I figured artists would be used to seeing the nude figure. Besides, Rubin's vase is so cliche.

[vaughn]

Use negative space to your advantage. You can guide the eye where you want it to go by using negative space appropriately. Unfortunately there are no basic 123 steps to using negative space and it is a judgment call.

[TobiasG]

negative space can be so wiked

[DesignStudio]

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[DesignStudio]

^ my tribute to negative space.

[TobiasG]

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.
Fan-bloody-tastic its like a cheap toilet paper logo!

[Hub]

For what it is worth - I treat white space just like another design element. with white space, take into consideration all of the same things as you would with placing a graphic or a body of text. You should consider it as carefully as any other element in your design. When you do - everyone will notice your strong design sense, but few will relate it to your treatment of white space.

[fredrich]

Sometimes, you just have to use this one: less is more.

A local newspaper used white space nicely for a couple of years ago. If i remember it right, there was a newspaper strike. They typed the alphabet characters from beginning to end in the middle of a white page and wrote, this is todays newspaper, in short version.

[Stush]

I'm not exactly a graphics designer, but to me if negative space is surronding an object it makes me focus more on that object or whatever. Can't exactly explain in the most graphically correct terminology :P