Design Nomenclature / Systems & Spec
Spacing scale
Also called space scale, spacing ramp, 4-point grid, 8-point grid
The restricted set of gap values a system permits — usually a base unit stepped geometrically or in multiples of four or eight — applied to padding, margin, and gaps. Rounding to whole pixels matters more here than ratio purity: a 1.25 ratio from 4 produces values nothing renders cleanly.
In practice
Confused with a baseline grid. A spacing scale constrains which gaps may exist; a baseline grid constrains where text lands. Either works without the other.
Not to be confused with
- Baseline gridAn invisible ruling at a fixed interval to which every baseline in a layout snaps, so text in adjacent columns aligns line for line and headings, images and rules land on the same increments. On the web it is enforced by making every vertical measurement a multiple of the body line-height rather than by an actual grid.
- Modular scaleA set of sizes generated by multiplying a base repeatedly by a fixed ratio — 16 at 1.25 gives 20, 25, 31.25 — so every step relates to every other by the same interval. The ratio is a constraint, not evidence of quality; the useful part is ending up with fewer sizes.