I talk about a hidden part of the creative pursuit that most people aren't aware of.

Music and links from this episode

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Scott_Joplin/Frog_Legs_Ragtime_Era_Favorites/04_-_scott_joplin_-_the_entertainer (The Entertainer (1902, piano roll) by Scott Joplin)

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/C_Scott/Stage_Theory_Beats_vol_3/CScott_-_Stage_Theory_Beats_vol_3_-_06_Belview1 (Belview by C. Scott)

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/C_Scott/Stage_Theory_Beats_vol_3/CScott_-_Stage_Theory_Beats_vol_3_-_13_Knuckle_Up1 (Knuckle Up by C. Scott)

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Juanitos/Exotica/juanitos_-_08_-_en_croisiere_1004 (En Croisiere by Juanitos)

Line-by-line notes

Hello. It’s me, Craig.

Before we get into today’s show, I wanted to quickly talk about something new I’m working on

I’m starting a new podcast soon

There’s lots of things I don’t know about it yet

Like the name, the final format, when it’ll be released

But I’m really excited by it

Because I’ll be interviewing designers and creatives that I love

We’ll be talking about geeky stuff from the design and creative worlds

And I’m really looking forward to it

The reason I’m telling you about this so early is because I need your help

If you know of a designer or a creative that you’d love to hear have a chat with me

OR, you are a designer or a creative and you’d love to have a chat with me

Ping me on https://twitter.com/craigburgess (twitter at craigburgess) or email me at craig@askadesigneranything.com and we’ll go from there

Promo, done.

INTRO

There’s a thing in any creative endeavour

That’s actually more important than the work itself

It’s older than time, and it’s a concept that’s been around forever

It’s older than this song

And some might say that to become a great designer, your understanding of it has to be absolute

And most of all, it’s something you’ve probably never considered and even known it’s a thing

I’m talking about space

No, not the kind of space in Star Trek

The other kind

This is AADA, and I’m Craig Burgess

PLAY MID SONG

Negative Space

White Space

Leave some room to breathe

It’s called different things by different people

Negative space as a concept is pretty simple

All it refers to is the space around or between the main subject of an image

In visual mediums, it’s the space where nothing is in the piece

It’ll be the spare space that’s left blank around something

To an untrained eye, it doesn’t look like an intentional thing

When you’re reading a book, the words don’t go to the very edge of the page

And that’s intentional, to aid your reading consumption and make it as comfortable as possible

But not only did somebody design where the words will go

And how much space is between them and what size the letters should be

Somebody also designed the space, the area where nothing is

It’s often an alien concept to some clients too

Who are always keen to see it as wasted space

Space that should be filled with something else

But once the negative space is filled up

It doesn’t have any power anymore, it’s not negative space now

It’s one of the rare areas of life where nothing is more powerful than something

It’s a concept that’s important in any artistic composition

Across “proper art”, photography, design, even music and writing

There’s a famous quote about it by Artur Schnabel

the pauses between the notes – ah, that is where the art resides

The concept of the pause shows up in lots of areas of life

Pausing to reflect

Pausing to catch your breath

Space to breathe

Clearing your mind to...