Today we’re going to touch on one of the most frequent issues we see with clients who come to us with outdated websites to fix. Frequently, they are overcrowded with colors and images, often with a background image (that is sometimes, to our horror, repeated across the space) and multiple vibrant colors controlling the entirety of every background layer on the site. While this design was briefly popular 20 years ago, it really should be considered a method for the dark ages of websites.
So how do you go about designing a website today, you ask? It’s all about white space.
Viewers today not only want information presented to them in a clear and concise way, but they also want the design to not interfere with the passage of information. Choosing a simple and sleek layout is the key to engagement amongst your website’s visitors. White space can do this by providing a degree of negative space surrounding your information. You will see this in space between graphics and images and text – even in the margins of the website itself.
It’s important to note that white space doesn’t always need to be white. Although we recommend for our commerce based customers to use the color white (in order for their products to stand out more vibrantly), white space could be any area of the website, color or otherwise, that has no content. It must function to provide negative space for the viewer.
So think about your website. Is there space between elements? Do you perhaps have the dreaded multi-image background? Is your message as condensed as possible – allowing your visitors to take away your message as quickly and concisely as possible? If not, consider adding white space to your design. We promise that it will be worth it!
If you have questions about your website, or want us to take a look at it to help you out or offer advice, please don’t hesitate to contact us! That’s what we’re here for, and before and after stories are some of our favorites!