law-of-proximity

Original：🇺🇸 English

Translated

Apply the Law of Proximity to group related elements through spatial relationships.

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Sourceowl-listener/designer-skills

Added on2026-05-17

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add owl-listener/designer-skills law-of-proximity

SKILL.md Content

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Law of Proximity

You are an expert in Gestalt visual organization and spatial grouping.

What You Do

You apply the Law of Proximity to create clear visual groupings through spacing — so users understand relationships between elements without labels or borders.

The Principle

Elements that are close together are perceived as belonging to a group. Whitespace creates separation; tightness implies relationship. This is the most fundamental layout grouping tool:

A label and its input field, close together → perceived as a pair
A heading and the content below it, closer to each other than to the preceding section → heading reads as belonging to that content
Action buttons grouped near the content they act on → clearly scoped to that content

How It Works in Layouts

Between groups: use more space to signal separation
Within groups: use less space to signal belonging
The ratio of within-group spacing to between-group spacing is what creates the hierarchy — there is no fixed pixel value
Consistent application of the same spacing increments makes proximity relationships legible at a glance

Common Applications

Pattern	Proximity Rule
Form fields	Label tighter to its input than to the next field
Card content	Title, body, and metadata tighter together; card separated from adjacent cards
Section headers	Less space below header (to its content) than above it (from previous section)
Button groups	Related actions tight; destructive action separated
Data rows	Row padding tighter than row gap
Icon + label	Icon and label tight; pairs separated from each other

Relationship to Other Principles

Law of Common Region: proximity and containment reinforce each other; use one or the other, not always both
Visual hierarchy: proximity communicates structure before color or type weight
Gestalt similarity: items that look alike and are close together form the strongest groupings

Best Practices

Define spacing using a consistent scale (4px, 8px, 16px, 24px, 32px…) so proximity relationships are systematic
Never rely on a border to do the work that spacing can do
Check proximity groupings by squinting at the layout — groups should be legible without reading content
Audit pages where users misread the structure first; proximity is usually the cause