subject: Dramatic Examples Of Effective White Space Use In Design [print this page] Website designers, graphic designers and even your printing company know the power of white space. It directs the eye. It makes text easier to read. It even helps emphasize elements on the page. Proper white space design is a phenomenal way to build your brand and impress users. Designers use the positive and negative all the time in their work, from design to good typography, but it often goes unnoticed. Let's take a look at some examples of effective white space in design. These designs will really show how white space works to punch up the drama.
Apple.com
As soon as users hit the homepage of the Apple website they see lots of white space. The white space design for this website really focuses the eye on the most current company product. It also implies that Apple products are clean, efficient and simple to use. Here is an example of a company using white space to help out with branding. Even the Apple computers and tablets have white cases on them.
Sleepover, San Francisco
The website for this online publishing group emphasizes the company name and logo. It is a simple placeholder site for the company that uses white space to tell the visitor instantly what they need to know. It also uses the white space on the page to direct the user to click links to other sites where they can contact the company or read more about what is going on.
World Wildlife Fund Logo
The WWF has an amazing logo which hasn't changed in years. This logo is so iconic, it really doesn't need changing. The logo works well online or published by a printing company. It is a panda bear elegantly rendered in simple positive and negative space. The designer created the impression of a panda bear using black shapes for the legs, ears, nose and eyes. White space fills the area around the black and creates a visual illusion. It's a very simple and yet, very clever use of positive and negative space.
Red Cross Logo
The Red Cross has been around for years. It's logo is exactly as the name suggests, a red cross. There's no need for any explanation. The logo is emphasized by the color red and by the white space surrounding it. It forms its own good typography.
FedEx Logo
The logo for this parcel delivery service is another example of great typography. The logo is simply the name FedEx in a sans serif font with the letters, 'fed' in blue and the letters 'ex' in red. The title caps on the company name encourage the movement of the eye over the letters. The white space around the logo also helps provide emphasis. If you look closely you'll see that the white space between the letters 'ex' in the logo forms an arrow.
Designers can use white space to dramatic effect. It doesn't matter if you are preparing a design to send off to the printer or creating a website design, you'll find that white space is a great tool in the designer's kit.
