White space is nothing.
White space is the absence of content.
Yet white space is the ultimate value in graphic design. The presence of white space is a symbol of smart, of class, of simplicity of the essence of refinement. The absence of white space is a symbol of vulgarity, of crassness, of schlock, of bad taste. These values are something we all take years to learn at design schools and for most of us as practicing designers, it is an opinion which rules the rest of our working lives. Because white space is the supreme symbol of class, it is difficult to disentangle it from our other art values, because to do so, makes you question where images and styles come from in the first place and why we are reproducing them.