White white space

January 9, 2007

Here at Post Haste, I have always meant to do more for the designers out there. Unfortunately, I’ve been rather lax in that department. After all, I have about as much of a design eye as the crew that designed the Head On commercials.

I can, however, pass other people’s thoughts and ideas around. Like today — A List Apart’s Mark Boulton has a very good piece on the importance of whitespace. And while it may come as no surprise to the designers out there, it’s still worth reading — even for those of you who DON’T design.

My first design job was with a small print design agency in Manchester that produced work in varying media: packaging, publications, and marketing support materials, and…direct mail. I soon discovered that the graphic design principles I’d learned in college were of little use when I designed for direct mail, where big, bold, and crowded is the order of the day. In the words of one client—words I will never forget—“whitespace is empty space.”

Direct-mail clients need their packages to look down-market, because it works for them. But for just about everything else, my client couldn’t have been further than the truth.

Check it out here: “Whitespace” by Mark Boulton.

Now, don’t say I never did anything for you designers.

By Corey

Filed Under Design

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