Negative space

In graphic design of printed or displayed materials, where effective communication is the objective, the use of negative space may be crucial.

[6] Negative space varies around lower case letters, allowing the human eye to distinguish each word rapidly as one distinctive item, rather than having to parse out what the words are in a string of letters that all present the same overall profile as in all caps.

Elements of an image that distract from the intended subject, or in the case of photography, objects in the same focal plane, are not considered negative space.

This basic, but often overlooked, principle of design gives the eye a "place to rest," increasing the appeal of a composition through subtle means.

As such, there is a difference between inert and active silences in music, where the latter is more closely analogous to negative space in art.

Negative space is used with figure-ground ambigrams and tessellations to display words or pictures in different directions after rotation (one way or other depending on the symmetry of the image).