Some Context and Terminology about Whitespace and Illustrations

White space is the term for any space on a page that is not taken up by ink or other media, and is important for many reasons.

To best discuss the different ways white space can impact the form of a page, I will be referring to terms that Johanna Drucker defines in her article, “Graphical Readings and the Visual Aesthetics of Textuality,” for different types of white space. First, let us examine what Drucker defines as “textual white space.” As an example of what happens when textual white space is removed, here is a sample paragraph where I have changed the line spacing to .5:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, ea meis mediocrem ullamcorper nec, incorrupte contentiones et eam. Ne molestiae posidonium mediocritatem usu, sed salutatus corrumpit moderatius ex, no quis graecis mentitum nam. Vix viris integre volutpat an, nobis dicam aliquam mea in, vis et brute meliore. Graece audire has ei, purto habemus salutandi mel ad. Pro et iriure malorum.

As you can see, it becomes very difficult to read. As well as line spacing, textual white space can refer to every element of spacing that defines the form of the text - kerning, column separation, even the space inside an ornamented letter that allows us to pick out the meaning from the decoration. Without textual space, the very letters themselves can become difficult to parse.

The second type of space that Drucker describes is termed “graphical” space, and refers to the structural gaps which separate elements and provide form to a page. This includes page margins, and the spaces between multiple elements such as text and illustrations or photographs. For an example of what happens when this is removed, I have taken the same sample paragraph and changed its formatting so that it does not adhere to the same margins as the rest of the text:

This time, the words are still legible, but it is much less elegant-looking, and when there are more elements included, it can become difficult to discern one piece of text from another, or difficult to read text as it is interrupted by an image.

Thirdly, Drucker describes “pictorial” space: Pictorial space describes the negative space in illustrations and decorations, as well as any highlights in an illustration which are accomplished by leaving the page blank. In many books, illustrations are done in black and white. In these cases, all form and texture is defined by the empty space where there isn’t ink. To get a better idea of what I mean, consider this ascii art from the ascii art archive created by user shimrod:

_.--._ _.--._

,-=.-":;:;:;\':;:;:;"-._

\\\:;:;:;:;:;\:;:;:;:;:;\

\\\:;:;:;:;:;\:;::;:;:;:\

\\\;:;::;:;:;\:;:;:;::;:\

\\\;;:;:_:--:\:_:--:_;:;\ -shimrod

\\\_.-" : "-._\

\`_..--""--.;.--""--.._=>

It is a very nice book, and very clear. However, look at what happens if we shift the color of the background to something darker:

_.--._ _.--._

,-=.-":;:;:;\':;:;:;"-._

\\\:;:;:;:;:;\:;:;:;:;:;\

\\\:;:;:;:;:;\:;::;:;:;:\

\\\;:;::;:;:;\:;:;:;::;:\

\\\;;:;:_:--:\:_:--:_;:;\ -shimrod

\\\_.-" : "-._\

\`_..--""--.;.--""--.._=>

Now it is much more difficult to interpret, since we have largely removed the pictorial space which defined the form of the illustration.

Outside of cases like notebooks, where spacing may be determined by the speed at which notes must be taken, white space is rarely accidental. It has become much, much easier in recent decades for a person to create a typed page, and so often the structure of modern writing is defined by the default layout for an author’s writing application of choice. However, even the usage of the default format conveys something about the tone and nature of the text. White space can be used to communicate context, like how double spacing, 12 point font and 1” margins are the hallmark of academic writing or how tabloid magazines have crowded covers with very thin margins between each block of text. White space can also be used to communicate some artistic vision, or to evoke an emotion.

Space without text on a page does not always have to be blank, though. It is certainly the norm in many situations for a page to be blank other than text, but there are many circumstances where that is not true. In those situations, we must consider illustrations and decorations. The expectation according to Neil Fraistat and Elizabeth Bergmann Loizeaux in their article "The Impossibility of Visual Textuality," is that illustrations tend to be regarded as secondary to text, rather than as equally important. There are cases where that is an accurate description, such as a border on a page which has no connection to the content and is simply a pattern, but there are also many instances where the illustrations can be as, or more, important than the text in a book. For example, Lee Galda and Kathy G. Short describe in their article, “Children's Books: Visual Literacy: Exploring Art and Illustration in Children's Books,” that in picture books, “Illustrations are not an extension of the text that simply reinforce the meanings of the words, but are necessary for comprehension.” Picture books are a genre that are largely directed towards children, but there is no reason that they cannot be directed towards other audiences, nor that other genres of books cannot borrow some elements from picture books.