White Space and Simplicity: An Overview

• By Vitaly Friedman
• January 12th, 2007
• Simplicity, Web 2.0, Web Design
• 13 Comments

Last year we’ve seen a lot of simple, even minimalistic designs, which impress not with the amount of presented information but with the way the information is actually presented. Complex layouts are giving way to simple 2-col- or 3-col layouts, which usually have large amount of white space without any content whatsoever.

Indeed, the importance of both white space and simplicity shouldn’t be underrated. Used correctly, they can enhance the performance of a web-site, improve readability and make a great first impression. Recently Mark Boulton has written an insightful article about Whitespace and its importance in web design. Very well written, it describes in a very simple, but clear way, how to deal with white space in practice and how to use it in your web-projects. We’ve collected some more articles on this topic. So what do we have?

Links checked: June/16 2008.

Simplicity:

• Keep it simple
  Why does a page look complex? A brief article about the “exciting design vs. simple design”-question.
• Keep it simple, stupid!
  Describes the importance of simplicity regarding the way human brain works.
• Simplicity: The Cobbles of the Designer’s Path
  Stepheen Van Doren about wrong and correct use of simple solutions.
• Simplicity Is Highly Overrated
  Don Norman criticizes that the simplicity and minimalism lead to less functions and decrease the total performance of products.
• The Beauty of Simplicity
  Google is simple. But how did its developers achieve it?
• The Complexity of Simplicity
  Luke Wroblewski describes a complex path to simplicity, its features and reasons, why the simple solutions are more complex than complex solutions.
• The Laws of Simplicity
  John Maeda presents 10 excerpts from his book, in which he talks about rules and principles of ‘Simplicity’.
• Wikipedia: Simplicity
  Explains what simplicity is and related information about the topic.

White Space (Negative Space):

• Design Matters: White space
  About the potential power behind Negative Space.
• ALA: Whitespace
  An excellent introduction to the theory and use of whitespace, by Mark Boulton
• Design Psychology
  An insight in the psychology of web design. Among other information White Space is analyzed.
• Developing the Invisible
  Luke Wroblewski gives examples of situations, in which white space is essential and explains, why it is indeed so significant.
• Give me my web space
  Molly E. Horzschlag gives guidelines, which can help you to reduce the complexity of your web-sites and improve its readability.
• Negative Space Tutorial
  This tutorial explains, how you can use White Space efficiently.
• On White Space in Graphic Design
  Keith Robertson about fields and areas, in which Negative Space dominates – primarily graphic design.
• Page Layout and Design for Digital Scrapbooking
  Carla Rose about the importance of White Space.
• Psychology Studies on Human Interaction
  Studies in psychology confirm: White Space improves the perception of information by 20%.
• The Importance of White space for Legibility
  This study compares 4 White Space Layouts and presents results about the influence of White Space in design.
• The value of white space
  Offers a detailed introduction in the theory of white space, with examples.
• Typography and White space
  White Space in practice: how can you guarantee an optimal legibility with CSS?
• Under The Loupe #1: White Space
  Jason Santa Maria: “Empty space serves a purpose and supports the visual integrity of a layout.”

Simplicity and White Space in Practice:

• Global White Space Reset
  Global Padding/Margin Reset in CSS-files can be used as a template for your web-projects.
• The Best Minimalist WordPress Themes
  A collection of hand-picked WordPress-Themes, which impress with their simplicity, clarity and readability.