What are liminal spaces? Why these eerie ‘non-places’ are haunting the internet.

Summary/Overview

Empty corridors. Flickering strip lights. Echoing shopping centres at dusk. Like a creepy scene in a horror movie that has you on edge, these examples give you an idea of liminal spaces. They are places caught between one thing and the next; neither here nor there. The term itself comes from the Latin word ‘limen,’ meaning threshold. These spaces often feel surreal or unsettling because they lack a clear sense of purpose or time and often lack the presence of people too. They’re familiar, yet something about them is off.

Although they send shivers down the spine, the internet has fallen in love with these eerie visuals. Jump onto social media, and you’ll find endless feeds full of liminal space edits. They’re moody, dreamlike, often nostalgic, weirdly unsettling—and great for use in content creation. Whether you’re designing visuals for a marketing campaign, a content series, or a personal project, liminal designs can instantly create atmosphere and catch attention. Adobe Express makes it easy to capture that vibe with ready-made templates, AI editing tools, and design effects you can apply to all your content.

Why do liminal spaces feel so eerie?

Just like the feeling we get when something feels off—in a movie or in real life—liminal spaces trigger a psychological response in us. They’re places designed for movement or transition—like waiting rooms, stairwells, motorways, or car parks—but when presented to the audience as empty or quiet, they create a sense of stillness that feels unnatural.

This eerie feeling, sometimes described as “the uncanny,” is what makes liminal visuals so compelling. We’re used to seeing these spaces full of people or activity. Take that away, and our brain knows something’s not quite right, and we naturally peer in to take a closer look.

For creatives and small business owners, it’s not just the eerie mood that captures attention—it’s the sense of intrigue that comes with it. Liminal spaces trigger emotions and force the audience to pause and focus on the visuals in front of them. Used right, it can stop the social media scroll or prompt deeper curiosity in an email. With Adobe Express, you can add these effects and atmospheric tension to your designs, whether using a social post, an arty calendar, or even a hoodie design.

Famous examples of liminal spaces in media.

Liminal space visuals have long been used in film, games, and television to unsettle or immerse. Think of the endless hotel corridors in The Shining. The abandoned school halls in Silent Hill. The blinking fluorescent lights in Stranger Things. All these spaces feel stuck in time—familiar yet empty, designed for purpose and for people but devoid of both.

These settings invite interpretation. Depending on the context, they can represent transition, loss, or unease. For content creators, this visual language is a powerful storytelling tool. They can play a role in anything from brand visuals to website designs and social campaigns to short-form video content. Once you understand how liminal space works, you can add a different kind of emotional impact to your designs that your audience will respond to and engage with.

Here are the key components of this design.

Familiar places made strange.

Choose everyday spaces people recognise—shopping centres, offices, tube stations—but present them in odd lighting or out-of-hours. Use shadows, fog, or slight distortion to make the space feel not quite right. The goal is to take something ordinary and make it feel off. You can practice with layering different images to make things seem distorted, causing people to pause and pay attention. Play around with different ideas and apply your finished design to posters, flyers, and other eye-catching marketing materials.

Absence of people.

What makes liminal imagery feel eerie is the lack of life where life should be thriving. Show empty rooms, deserted halls, or still streets. This emptiness lets the viewer project themselves into the space. You can create a series of images using a collage maker or turn a set of liminal spaces photos into an art project.

Use of lighting and blur.

Muted colours, harsh overhead lights, or low saturation tones help build mood. Soft focus, slight motion blur, or film grain effects can add dreamlike depth. These edits help evoke emotion and prompt the viewer to look closer, scrutinising the details. Use the tools from Adobe Express to find the look and feel you want to evoke, then experiment with it across other content types.

Editable templates for liminal space art.

Turn everyday spaces into liminal art using AI and templates.

You don’t need a professional camera or studio set-up to create liminal designs. Start with a photo from your phone—an empty stairwell, a twilight shot of a car park—and transform it using tools and templates from Adobe Express. Alternatively, use the AI Image Generator to turn your text ideas into unique visuals for social media, mood boards, or branding.

Use templates to speed up design.

Browse templates by content type and search for terms like “retro,” “surreal,” or “dreamlike.” Once you’ve found a good starting point, you can easily customise colours, textures, and effects to create something unique.

Add grain, blur, or vintage effects.

Create nostalgic or eerie edits using image effects like VHS grain, monochrome tints, or slight blur. This could be ideal for creating a layered image to print on a t-shirt or for creating an iconic look and feel for a fashion brand.

Use text sparingly.

Liminal design is about emotion and atmosphere. If you add text, keep it minimal. One line. A phrase. A question. Think poetry, not promotion. Let the space do the talking. If you want to add a written message to your visuals, resist the urge and add your messaging to your social media captions instead.

Explore generative AI to go surreal.

Use the Adobe Express AI template generator to push your visuals further. Create surreal hallways, warped offices, or dreamlike cityscapes ready for use on posters, cards, flyers, and social posts.

Design liminal space-themed content with Adobe Express.

How to use liminal spaces in digital storytelling.

Still unsure how to get started using this design style? Dive into the free templates from Adobe Express to find the right starting point, and keep these five tips in mind.

1. Start with a mood, not a message.

Decide what you want your audience to feel first—then build your design around that. Liminal space visuals work best when they evoke curiosity, nostalgia, or unease. What do you want your content to do after it captures the attention of your audience? Focus on using the mood to engage your audience and motivate them to take action. Discover the power of brand storytelling and how to craft compelling stories using your visual content.

2. Choose your colours carefully.

Cool tones like blues, greys, and desaturated colours help build atmosphere. Stay away from warm, cheerful colours unless you’re creating a creepy contrast on purpose. Remember that less is more, so avoid a varied colour palette, as this could make your scene look busy and alive. Explore the psychological power of colour in marketing to get the most out of your colours.

3. Use text as a layer, not a label.

Let your typography blend with the space. Lower the opacity, use soft fonts, or position it away from the centre. Keep things subtle. Merge messaging into the background. As soon as you add text as a label, it compromises the feeling you’re trying to evoke in your audience. Learn more about typography and the best typography designs for UK businesses.

4. Mix real photos with graphic elements.

Overlay geometric shapes or abstract gradients to blend the real with the surreal. This adds visual interest and creates depth. Leave some areas slightly blurred or unclear, as this adds curiosity and uncanny feelings.

5. Reuse assets across platforms.

Once you’ve built a liminal design, reuse the visuals on reels, stories, email headers, or backgrounds. This will help your audience recognise your brand or campaign across different platforms. Use Adobe Express to easily resize and repurpose your content.

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Curious about liminal spaces?

Use Adobe Express AI Art Generator to experiment with AI and generate stunning liminal spaces-inspired design templates. Dive into the creative process and bring your unique vision to life with our easy-to-use tools.

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Useful things to know.

Is liminal design good for business content?

Yes, as long as you use it intentionally and have a clear message that you wish to convey. Use liminal spaces as part of your storytelling campaigns, immersive branding experiences, or products to help you capture your audiences’ attention and create an emotional connection.

What formats work best for liminal spaces?

For social media, square or portrait formats are ideal, as they maximise visibility on mobile screens, and this can encourage better engagement. These formats also work well for Instagram posts or TikTok videos featuring liminal imagery like empty hallways or nostalgic landscapes. For video content, opt for a widescreen format for cinematic storytelling and immersive experiences. To help you plan out your content, use the free social media marketing plan maker.

Can I use liminal design for personal projects too?

Yes. Video edits featuring abandoned malls or eerie landscapes are common on platforms like YouTube and TikTok, allowing creators to explore themes of memory and impermanence and produce their own short stories. Nostalgic posts—like those sharing old photos with faded filters—also resonate strongly with audiences seeking connection through shared experiences. Liminal spaces designs can be used to create powerful book covers and album covers, too.

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