Whitespaceaphobia

What is it that appears to strike the fear into so many people? No, it’s not spiders, monsters, bogey men or women, squirrels or even having your passport picture taken. After a long time drawing conclusion from my experiences I conclude that the thing that stikes the most fear into so many is in fact whitespace.

As with so many fears this is one based on complete irrationality and drawn from the fear of the unknown. For years the motto of designers everywhere was “if there is a space fill it – if there isn’t a space fill it anyway and call it a transparent layer”. This demorialisation and over saturation of the client’s eye has left them with such a fear of whitespace that should you use it to a confirmed whitespacephobic the reaction is one of shear panic.

I personally am yet to find a cure for this phobia bar a long process of bashing over the head with blunt objects and exposure therapy. Eventually, I have found you can get the patient to respond by introducing pixel after pixel over time – you must never rush this process for these are delicate minded individuals who will bolt at the slightest over whitespace attempt.

The eventual treatment process will result in an almost complete recovery – some residual bevelling and drop shadow side effects may be seen. A further effect of this therapy appears to also be a significant headache, but that might just be from bashing over the head with blunt objects.

The therapist has to take heed though as this is a long, arduous and swear quota absorbing treatment. Be prepared for a lot of puzzlement as the patient will be slow to respond during the initial therapy phases.