Stopped designing on autopilot after a senior dev hit me with 3 questions about my spacing

Used to just eyeball padding and margins until a guy at this agency in Denver asked me why every element was 32px apart. Now I lead with an 8px grid system and it saves me 2 hours of tweaking per layout, what's your go-to spacing rule when something feels off?

2 comments

2 Comments

ross.jessica22d ago

Used to think grids were overkill honestly... but then a lead showed me how my inconsistent padding was breaking responsive layouts on tablet. That 8px base unit is solid though, I stick to multiples of that now and my work just holds together better across screen sizes.

john_hunt219d ago

Man I gotta respectfully disagree with that take... grids never clicked for me either honestly. I find they box you in too much, like you end up designing for the grid instead of for the content. Padding inconsistencies just sound like a spacing strategy problem, not a grid problem. I build everything with a flex approach and a simple 4px rhythm and it scales fine from phone to monitor without needing a strict grid. Grids feel like training wheels to me... once you get how spacing actually works you don't need them anymore. But hey different strokes right, whatever gets the job done for you.