1. Introduction
People read materials in newspapers, magazines, the Internet, books, advertisements in their daily lives. These reading materials have various visual elements that depend on paper size, layout, color and typeface. These components help people to read and understand texts easily. However, when people read, they usually concentrate on the content in the text and it is not easy for casual eyes to notice the visual elements. Especially, blank space is also easily passed over. However, blank space is important in terms of the legibility, variety, and aesthetics of typography.
According to Boulton (2007), “whitespace is empty space” (para. 1). However, the meaning of blank space is not simply white space. Blank space sometimes has some color and although it does not look like it has any function, it can still be blank space. In typography, the blank space is between elements in composition. Through the elements, blank space gives legibility because the pertinent blank space in a good composition can lead readers’ eyes to follow contents comfortably and to find important information of contents easily. Thus, some elements are made to bring out readability. Donald points out the importance of this: “Lack of white space is as tiresome as the party blabbermouth. [On the other hand,] margins and white space beckon the reader in” (as cited in White, 2002, p29). Furthermore, appropriate blank space in a composition can create an aesthetic. In a similar vein, Boulton (2007) points out that more blank space is luxurious and less blank space is cheap (para. 4). This explains the relationship between blank space and the value of aesthetics. Having more blank space will look like high quality artwork and marvelously, this concept is related with a canon of Eastern aesthetics, especially Korea.
2. Blank Space with Legibility and Variety
- Empty space and elements in a composition
The composition between type elements and blank space is important in typography. This includ the space between words, text columns, paragraphs, lines, and characters. White (2002) explains in detailed that “The rules must be clear in both the use of white space and in the placement of elements in the white space. The use of too little white space results in an overfull page. On the other hand, the use too much white space makes a page or spread look incomplete, as if elements have slid off the page” (p. 23). This means that the lack of blank space can make difficult to read text because of overlapping or connecting letters, lines, paragraphs or columns on the one hand and on the other hand, the too much blank space, wasted space, can make people’s eyes lose direction. As the appropriate amount of blank space makes legibility, typographers always consider. Sometimes to communication more information, typographers need to reduce the amount of blank space but without making it difficult to read.
Likewise, using blank space in composition of content makes variety and legibility. Although it is the same content, it looks different and easy to understand according to the amount of blank space. As seen in Tschichold’s poster cards below, the two passages have the same content but those have a different amount of blank space. White (2002) explained abut the design of these examples by concentrating on symmetrical style of typography. Tschichold says about those two examples that “The content has been refitted to a symmetrical format to show how white space added quality to the communication.” (as cited in White, p,29).
In logo design, manipulating blank space skillfully is important because it can make more variety. Blank space can make people focus on logos or some massage that companies want to impact and communicate with people. Lindsay (2006) points out the blank space will look incomplete, but publishers have learned because blank space is like breathe, it gives freedom to their audience (para 3.10.). Also, Lindsay (2006) warns to fill available space with advertisement, in effect customers and advertisements will be driven away at the same time (para 12.). As seen in the examples below, the FedEx logo is famous for using blank space between letters. The FedEx logo shows how using blank space can affect people. Its designer, Leader (2004), used the “hidden” space between a capital “E” and a lower-case “x” to create an arrow. The view changes slightly from concentrating on letter design to observing the blank space. He realized the blank space and then chose the typeface to create a perfect arrow (para 7 ~9.).
3. Blank Space Speaks Itself
- Less blank space = cheap; more blank space = luxury
In the advertising of typography, like posters, the blank space is important to make look them expensive. Boulton (2007) explains “designers use whitespace to create a feeling of sophistication and elegance for upscale brands [by uaing] extensive whitespace in their marketing material to tell the reader that they are sophisticated, high quality, and generally expensive” (para 4.). When advertising in limited space, some companies decided the most important information is observed with blank space. Others just concentrate on giving much information to the reader with full space. However, White (2002) points out how it works in advertisement, that companies want to get a large space in newspapers to advertise and then they create blank space because they believe “empty speaks even more highly of the company’s success”(p. 29). This concept of blank space is similar with the meaning of blank space in Oriental aesthetics. According to Kim (2001) “the blank space, oneself, is not a just hollow one and it can be said that the blank space manifests the formation of a picture and the inner world of the painter through the formative consciousness like the essential elements of a picture” (p. II). It is that the blank space gives people the opportunity to interpret their own imagination about the blank space plentifully. It will be the same idea between Western and Oriental aesthetics.
Those are posters designed by American artist and Korean artist. The two posters do not have many words. The left poster has the words “Amantes Amentes Films” with some information and the right poster has Oriental painting with Chinese and Korean characters. The layout of the posters is different but using blank space and posters’ edges is similar. It is the same that both are blank in the canter. The left poster uses edges of the top and bottom, and the right poster uses the edge of the right side. Those give an opportunity to audiences to understand blank space themselves. In addition, making blank space a lot in commercial posters represents the wealth because they have to give up the chance to use more colors, information, and visual impact instead of creating the blank space.
4. Conclusion
Blank space should have a relationship with full space because they fill the limited space on papers that are giving opportunities to typographers to express a lot of ideas and information. The role of various elements in typography are important, as well as the blank space but sometimes they are given up by the blank space because they should think about its role.
References
Boulton. M. (2007 Jan. 09). Whitespace. Retrieved May 31, 2007, from
http://alistapart.com/articles/whitespace
Kim. D.W. (2001. Oct.) The Spirit of Blank Space and the Formative Consideration in
the oriental Painting. Korea: National Assembly Library
Leader. L. (2004 Nov. 16). The Man Behind the FedEx Logo. Retrieved June 14, 2007,
from http://www.thesneeze.c om/mt-archives/000273.php
Lindsay. S. (2006 Oct. 23). Website Design: Welcome The White Space. Retrieved June 17, 2007 http://www.webpronews.com/expertarticles/2006/10/23/website-design-welcome-the-white-space
White. A. W. (2002). The Elements of Graphic Design. New York; Allworth Press. p23~29. Retrieved June 14, 2007, from http://www.chihwaseon.com/
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