Prior to its inception in the 60s, art was all about abstract expressionism. But then came artists like Donald Judd, Anne Truitt, Agnes Martin, Dan Flavin, Robert Morris, and Frank Stella who aimed to explore art differently. Thus, gravitation towards geometric abstraction emerged.
By applying the minimal design principles in work, the creator is not reliant on any ‘added materials’– from frills, embellishments, and enhancements – that is not needed to make the design functional and present it in the simplest form possible. It picked up momentum almost immediately and reached every facet of our life including music, architecture, fashion, literature, sculpture, interior design, and…our topic for today – graphic and digital designing!
Minimalism in Graphic Designing
The aim of graphic design is to convey a message via visuals. It has long been established that humans have short attention spans and are usually selective regarding the content they choose to view. A generic graphical design did not manage to capture the attention of passersby effectively and therefore, the use of minimal design was incorporated to instantly create engaging and clear visual content.
As mentioned above, the minimal design minimizes fluff and presents the core message in the most attention-grabbing way. Thus it is successfully implemented in the development of websites, logo designs, user interfaces, and more.
Features of Minimal Web Design
Some of the prime features that make up a minimal web design include:
Flat Design
Flat design is a style of minimal design to create a graphical user interface. With the use of flat design, the creator eliminates every unnecessary elements such as texture, shadows, and gradients that are not necessary on the website/app. the end result is a UI that is cleaner, streamlined, and less distracting.
Plenty of Negative Space
Another feature that defines minimal design to the point is the generous and maximum use of negative or white space. This style of design works with only a few elements and ultimately, we are left with a lot of empty spaces. And instead of using up this space, the designer lets it be to create prominence around the prime message.
Limited Color Palette
Since we are eliminating unnecessary elements from the design, it seems appropriate to follow the same principles in our color palette. Therefore, most minimal designs stick to a maximum of 3 colors in the complete layout.
In fact, most minimal website UIs are capable of creating an attractive impression with only two colors from the palette – a primary color and a contrasting shade. Monochrome colors are also a popular choice, especially pastel and earthy shades for minimal designs.
Bold typography
Bold typography is another staple addition of minimal designs. Since we are limiting the use of artistic elements, the use of bold, dynamic, and dramatic typography is often used to create an attractive and captivating visual.
The bold typography is also modified via size, style, alignment, and shape while combining the same with colors is also helpful in creating an impact.
More Purposeful Elements
When creating a functional minimal design UI, the focus remains on buttons, menus, links, pages, and other elements that are important to make the user’s experience more seamless. Everything else is either removed or added to collapsible menus.
The idea behind this protocol is to offer a clean, organized, and non-distracting webpage to the end-user.
What to Avoid in Minimal Design:
Here, let’s take a look at some of the features that should not be a part of a minimal design.
- Don’t make it too simple
- Don’t hide important information
- Don’t make the text difficult to read
To Use Minimal Design or Not?
Minimal designs usually work. However, they may not be the right choice for some websites. For example, if you are running an e-commerce store, you may need to add a variety of products and categories. In this case, using a different style of design may be a better option than minimal design.
For other websites, such as personal blogs, portfolios, and websites with limited content – minimal design may be the thing you need.
Find out the essential elements of a minimal design through the Infographic below!
Infographic by: DesignMantic