Increasing negative space in web design

While web design trends do grow and change over time, one that has remained popular over the past few years is the use of negative space. But what is this? And how can you apply this design feature to your website for a stunning visual result that will allow your company to grow? Well, as Manchester’s leading web design professionals, here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester, we work with a variety of companies across Manchester, and the North West, including  those in Blackburn and Chorley, to provide high quality web design solutions. As a result, we have produced this guide to everything you should know about increasing negative space in web design.

What is negative space?

Negative space is a web design term that is used to describe the areas of the screen that have no content over the top. For example, if your website has a background, these are all the places where the background can be seen. If not, the space will be blank, set white, or to your background colour. This space is usually in between web design features, like text, video and image content. Increasingly, this space is being used as a web design feature itself, as we see some companies using an extreme minimalism in design. But can this be effective?

What are the advantages of increasing negative space in web design?

Increasing the amount of negative space in web design can be a very effective design tool for a number of reasons, including:

  • Stop and look- a website with a lot of negative space is something that your users may not be expecting. And this element of surprise means that they are more likely to stop and look at your content, instead of just scrolling past.
  • Draws attention to key features- exaggerating the negative space around a particular image or heading is a great way to draw the users attention in, towards the content in the centre of the white space. This means that things like your call to action can be given more attention, and this could result in an increase in click through rates, and an increase in profits or sign ups.
  • Positive user experience- Increasing the negative space on your website means that there is no room for visual clutter, and instead your website will have a minimalist feel. Minimalist web design creates a more positive user experience, as the user has less to focus on, and more time to take in the most important details of your website. A more positive user experience generally leads to an increase in sales and sign ups for your company, so it’s a win all round.
  • Brand identity- increasing the negative space around key brand features, including the logo, is a good way to increase attention on the brand identity of your website, and to ensure that your website will be memorable for users.

For more information or for professional web design support, get in touch with the professionals today, here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester.