Spacing

Spacing values help create consistent interfaces by clearly defining relationships and distances between components.

Mobile interface mock-up showing spacing values between header, content blocks, and an image placeholder.

Principles

Create visual groupings
We group related items closer together for visual recognition.
⁠
Complement function
We use tighter spacing for large amounts of information, and looser spacing for more focused content.
⁠
Maintain consistency
We use our design system space tokens consistently for a harmonious experience.
⁠

4px soft grid and base units

Most modern UI and design systems are built on a grid system foundation. Some of these systems opt for a ‘hard grid’ approach, which boxes elements in the design to a rigid 8px grid.We opt for a 4px ‘soft grid’ approach, which allows for more nuanced spacing options, while still aligning to an 8px grid. This means every spacing element is divisible by 4.