Spacing & Sizing Best Practices
Spacing scales, touch targets, gap vs margin, and logical properties based on WCAG 2.2, Apple HIG, Material Design 3, and CSS best practices.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Read time
- 1 min read
- Version
- v1.0.0
- Confidence
- established
- Last updated
Quick Reference
Use 4px or 8px spacing scale (4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32, 48, 64). Touch targets minimum 44x44px (Apple) or 24x24px (WCAG AA). Use CSS gap for sibling spacing, margin for section spacing. Use logical properties (margin-inline, padding-block) for RTL support.
Use When
- Setting up spacing tokens for a design system
- Deciding padding and margins for components
- Sizing interactive elements like buttons
- Creating consistent whitespace
- Supporting RTL languages
Skip When
- Working on print design
- Pixel-art or game UI with custom grid
Spacing & Sizing Best Practices
Spacing scales, touch targets, gap vs margin, and logical properties based on WCAG 2.2, Apple HIG, Material Design 3, and CSS best practices.