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Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Whitespace - what say?
A small study was recently released about the impact of margins and leading (space between lines) on readability and comprehension of online text.
I bring this up because it's a pertinent issue with all the weblogs that are popping up. Often times, you know on a gut-level what makes for a good looking blog, but you may not know why it's aesthetically pleasing. I think it has a lot to do with the use of whitespace.
I would've guessed that text with margins and optimal leading would naturally produce a higher level of both readability and comprehension. But surprisingly, this isn't what was found. Although comprehension was better with margins, reading speed was actually better *without* margins. Less distance for the eye to travel? Who knows. Granted, the study involved only 20 participants, but it's an interesting conclusion.
A whitespace haiku:
Whitespace is better
For the eyes and for the brain
Now hand me a beer.