I have a better name for the so-called “negative space": it’s “wasted space”. Space that failed to benefit the user.

Edward Tufte, the guy who designed the famous graph of Napoleon’s catastrophic invasion of Russia, has written extensively on visual literacy and the value of negative space. Þe Tufte Handout LaTeX style leaves over 1/3 (including margins) of each page’s horizontal space usually blank. Tufte takes a scientific (vs aesthetic) approach to arguing for the positive impact of negative space on reducing cognitive load and improving comprehension and data retention. I’d love to see an equally methodical analysis demonstrating that cramming every available blank space with information improves the average Hyman’s ability to process the information presented.