Minimalist design is one of the most significant design movements
of the 20th century and early 21st century. It isn’t the flashiest, or
the most popular, but it arguably penetrated more fields than almost any
other art or design trend. Everything from user interfaces, to hardware
designs, to cars, to films and games, to the web and visual designs of
today – all those fields and more were influenced by minimalism.
Your friends might not know what minimalism is, but chances are
they’re currently using or viewing a minimalist design: a modern phone, a
clean web or application interface, looking at a slick brochure or
other graphically-presented information, sitting in a simple living
space on a sleek sofa, and so forth.
The reason why minimalism penetrated so many fields yet is less known than, say, pop art or something, is because it’s more of a principle than a visual style.
And since it is only a principle and direction of designing, designers
outside of architecture and industrial design can apply and improve
their designs as well – including many web and visual designers of
today.
Okay, so minimalism is great and important and all. It’s not flashy
but is more influential and widespread. Got it. So what the heck is
minimalist design? Let’s find out, along with its roots and key figures.
This article will give you a brief history of minimalist design, then
offer some practical tips for use in your web and visual designs, and
then showcase some examples of minimalist web design.
1. What Is Minimalist Design?
Minimalism is a design trend that started in the 20th century and
continues today, most prominently through companies like Apple and
various graphic and visual designers. A minimalist design is a design stripped down to only its essential elements.
There’s not much else to add to that, other than reiterating that
minimalist design is more of a principle than visual design. It doesn’t
matter if you’re designing a website, a flyer, a user interface, a piece
of hardware, a house, or anything else – you remove the unnecessary
(ie. can the design still function at a 100% level without it?) and keep
only the essential elements.
2. Brief History of Minimalist Design
Minimalist started in the early 20th century with architecture,
roughly around the 1920s. Post-World War I architect Van der Rohe was
one of the first prominent architects who used principles in his designs
that came to exemplify minimalist design. The reason minimalist
architecture started taking off was the availability of modern
materials: glass, concrete, steel. Also, standardized ways of building
were forming, which helped to more effectively design and build
minimalist buildings. The trend continued through the mid-20th century,
with notable designer and architect Buckminster Fuller (more on him
below) designing domes using simple geometric shapes that still stand
and look modern today.
The focus on simplicity spilled over into painting, interior design,
fashion, and music. That’s how the following were formed and are now
commonplace: minimal painting, minimal music, the minimalism school of
composing, and so forth. Painter Frank Stella was quoted as saying,
“What you see is what you see”. Minimal art in particular especially
grew in the 1960s in America. Similar to De Stijl, painters reacted
against the abstract-expressionism art and used only the rudimentary
geometric shapes in their works and didn’t add decorations or any other
elements.
Naturally, the focus on simplicity also spilled over into consumer
products, with designer Dieter Rams (also more on him below) using
minimalist design in products for Braun. Ikea, the Swedish furniture
company, is another example of minimalist designed consumer products.
The furniture is so simple that it’s designed for everyday people to be
able to assemble with ease, often without even needing instructions due
to it being self-explanatory.
And of course, minimalist design carried over naturally into the
digital realm, with visual and web designers applying minimalism
principles into their own designs and designs for clients.
