Graphic designers deal with visual elements that must come together for form a composite message. However, those who hone their vision and skills to a fine level, understand that they are dealing with more than just shapes, colors, images and typography. Making a visual “window of approach” also deals with designing the space where nothing appears — the negative space.

Good design utilizes the negative space as if it were a solid visual element in the design. Where this space occurs, its shape, and what it affects becomes of paramount importance in leading the reader or viewer to the intended result. Designing negative space is also designing the reverse space left behind by other elements, as in the vision of a white arrow hidden in the typography of the FedEx* logo. Some succeed, and some fail.

Probably the most well known use of negative space, aside from logos, is Bill Bernbach’s* famous “Think Small” ad. Bill knew that by leveraging the negative white space of the ad he would a) grab anyone’s attention by virtue of so much white space, and b) force every reader to enter the content well and READ the “Think Small” headline. Notice how the negative space seriously reinforces the whole message of the ad without actually having to read the ad. This ad has been credited with launching Volkswagen into the U.S. market with huge success — and awarded the top advertising campaign of the 20th century.

Visual Gulp

When the human is presented with a ‘visual gulp’ they do more than concentrate on form, image and texture. The mind begins analyzing and sifting through the visual elements deciding what they are, how they relate to each other, and where they fall in space. The notion of 2-dimensional space is almost never considered. As soon as the very first visual element is placed in a blank visual gulp, it affects that space and the eye alters it. The challenge for graphic designers is placing all visual elements into that space so it not only relates to other graphic elements — but relates to the empty space itself. The negative space.

What do we see?

In its investigation of elements in space, the human eye works to make sense out of the elements and their positions in relation with each other even before recognition and understanding take place. So, the elements suggest location, movement, importance and relationships without their individual meaning. The process seems to follow what scientists and Gestalt psychologists refer to as parsimony*, or ‘less is better’. Those who follow the Gestalt* Principles know the extensive research that established the way humans interpret visual stimulus. Vsions perceived by the eyes are grouped in two ways — the brain selects what it considers to be the most obvious foreground and background. Then with each of the elements of foreground and background, the brain has a tendency to further group them as follows: proximity, similarity, connectedness, continuity of patterns, and closure. The Gestaltists saw this as the mind organizing many into a single whole.

Foreground and Background

Without going into a full-scale dissertation on the Gestalt Philosophy, and design axioms — you can study those until you are quite literally ill, we can focus on two elements in all visual perceptions as foreground and background. More precisely defined as what’s in front, and what’s in back. That’s what negative space is all about — which element is closer to you, and which element is further away. Within this established realm of “space” the next focus is:

• what is it?
• how important is it?
• what does it relate to?
• what comes next?

This subliminal test takes place in milliseconds, unnoticed by the recipient, when the viewer’s eye is called upon to analyze any given ‘visual gulp’ or window of approach. Which is closer, the stop light, or the car in front of you? Which is more important? How do we know this?

Now, let’s apply this to the science of utilizing negative space in visual communications.