Your eyes might have strained to notice things back then! Adverts from brands like Coca-Cola barely included an inch of whitespace. If you went back in time 50-100 years ago, designs were far busier.

However, it hasn’t been always like this. Modern design prefers simplicity in layout – from Apple to Google, clean, simple layouts with plenty of whitespace are the preferred way to deliver content. Although we’ve moved to the opposite extreme now, for the moment, it’s important to understand how you can use (by avoiding) horror vacui to enhance your own web designs. For a long time, it was a driving force in design. However, we want to look at horror vacui differently. But, as designers, we need to understand that such a fear may sound like no bad thing. They are appealing to our “horror vacui”. Give it purpose - fill it with.” (books, games, DVDs, etc.). Many of us who shop on Amazon may have noticed that, when our cart is empty, the caption reads: “Your shopping cart lives to serve. At first glance, we may identify with that fear as being perfectly natural: it could be the fear of not refueling at the pump before we set out on a long drive, or not having a filling breakfast before a long, busy day. Horror Vacui (a Latin-derived term) means “fear of emptiness”. Horror Vacui - the fear of not filling up Of course, having a better understanding of it will let you work its antidote into your designs with confidence.

Fear not! It covers a concept that will seem familiar very quickly. This is classic Ruth Ozeki - bold, humane and heartbreaking.Our next article is all about a scary-looking subject in that its title may look ominous. The Book of Form and Emptiness blends unforgettable characters, riveting plot and vibrant engagement with everything from jazz to climate change to our attachment to material possessions. He meets a homeless philosopher-poet, who encourages him to ask important questions and find his own voice amongst the many.Īnd he meets his very own Book - a talking thing - who narrates Benny's life and teaches him to listen to the things that truly matter.

There, he falls in love with a mesmerising street artist with a smug pet ferret, who uses the library as her performance space. When his mother develops a hoarding problem, the voices grow more clamorous.Īt first Benny tries to ignore them, but soon the voices follow him outside the house, onto the street and at school, driving him at last to seek refuge in the silence of a large public library, where objects are well-behaved and know to speak in whispers. Although Benny doesn't understand what these things are saying, he can sense their emotional tone some are pleasant, a gentle hum or coo, but others are snide, angry and full of pain. The voices belong to the things in his house - a sneaker, a broken Christmas ornament, a piece of wilted lettuce. After the tragic death of his beloved musician father, fourteen-year-old Benny Oh begins to hear voices.

The form of emptiness