Minimalist Design Philosophy: How to Achieve Simplistic Perfection

A minimalist design doesn’t attract attention through traditional visual indicators (e.g.: bright colours, elaborate illustrations), but rather it ‘demands’ to be looked at under a very sophisticated light. In its most basic definition, minimalism refers to an aesthetic tactic in art where the subject is reduced (“stripped down”) to its most fundamental and necessary elements. The most perplexing aspect of a minimalistic design lies in how these “necessary elements” are defined; what constitutes the most basic elements of any design? There is no clear answer but fortunately, for the contemporary web designer, there are several effective working examples of minimalistic designs in action, a few of which I hope to carefully dissect in this article. Less is More German-American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, commonly credited with coining (and practicing) the aphorism, “Less is More”, adhered to a strict minimalist framework. He did this by enlisting every detail in design to serve multiple visual and functional purposes. An example of such would be designing floors which are also fitted with internal heat radiators that operate during winter. My point being: a single element in a minimalist design serves multiple functions. Let us now look at an empirical case study to put things in perspective. The portfolio website of Mark Boulton Design, a British based design firm run by Welsh designer Mark Boulton, epitomizes the essence of minimalism. Upon entering the front page, visitors are greeted with a clean layout which does very little in the way of showcasing the designer’s talents (no elaborate jQuery accordion galleries and the like here). Rather, the visitor reads Mark Boulton Design as a professional and established creative institution. The portfolio exudes an almost scholarly presence (hence the word ‘institution’), a center for creative experimentation. The front placeholder image, featuring the designer’s main project, serves two primary purposes. The first is purely functional in that the image helps visitors to understand the nature of services provided to the client. The secondary logic behind the image is more abstract. The image acts as a kind of brand/identity validation. It subtly unravels the ‘creative’ side of Mark Boulton Design; a visual ‘teaser’ of what to expect and the level of design standards potential clients can look forward to receiving. The designer does not need to “speak” for his work (there are no introductory statements like in other design portfolios) but lets the ‘work’ speak for itself. The website of Mark Boulton Design is clear testament to the visual effectiveness of what minimalist designs can achieve for your online brand identity. Doing More with Less It is evidently clear that minimalistic designs utilize a limited amount of resources (only basic elements) to create a presence that is memorable and long lasting. The central point of interest here is to understand what elements can be categorically termed as “basic”; a topic which I fleetingly posed in the introductory premises of this article. The trick is to look at ‘form’ and not ‘content’. By ‘form’ I mean the ‘raw’ geometric shapes that are used to outline a website space. I’ve decided to collate a few minimalist designs to further emphasize my argument. All of the selected designs on the left use geometric rectangular shapes (also known as ‘Broad Based Grids’ in some quarters) as their central aesthetic composition. The key difference lies in the vastness of space between various adjoining rectangular blocks. Blank space is an active aesthetic component in minimalistic designs. It creates a sense of placement; the user is aware of the varying sub-sections within the overall website space. The geometric rectangular blocks (as highlighted in the image) are not denoted by strong borders, but through an intelligent use of text, to suggest that each block element is characteristically different, both in content, form and function. Achieving an effective and compelling minimalistic look for your website is clearly an intricate skill, perfected only through constant practice and experimentation. If I could sum up minimalism on the web today in a few succinct words, it would be, ‘the creative, logical and sparing use of shapes and space to synthesize a sense of visual unity/harmony’. Showcase of Minimalistic Designs About the Author Josh is an academic researcher, specializing in online media and visual design culture. He is currently doing a PhD on youth engagement with new media. In addition to his academic pursuits, he runs Tripping Words a design blog housing an array of opinions on web design philosophy.