Ask a junior designer to improve a layout and they'll usually add something. More colour, more elements, a new section. The instinct is understandable — design feels like making — but the most powerful thing you can often do is take something away.
Whitespace, or negative space, is the breathing room between and around elements. It's not emptiness. It's an active design decision that communicates hierarchy, focus, and quality. Luxury brands have understood this for decades: think of any high-end perfume ad, or Apple's product pages. The thing being sold is surrounded by space that makes it feel important.
In UI design, whitespace does structural work. It groups related elements, separates unrelated ones, and creates the visual rhythm that makes a page feel easy to read. When I review designs from junior team members, overcrowding is almost always the first thing I address. Give your content room to breathe. Your users will thank you.