True Minimalism in Web Design
Recently most of our clients are requesting a "clean look" for new design projects. We often hear words like white, open, calming, and airy. Apple is probably the best known brand sporting that fresh, clean look, but Apple didn't get there because they had a spare can of white paint in the garage.
The hang up is that clean design is not a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too scenario. A truly clean design is minimalistic. Minimalism cuts the clutter, is low on frills and is void of the unnecessary. The whole theory of minimalism can be epitomized by one famous quote:
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to remove." –Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Minimalism in art has been with us since the late 1960's. It is often manifested as abstract art, but it can also be beautiful and practical, especially in commercial art. A company simply can't be too big to use minimalism either: Google has over 40 products, yet their homepage, Google.com is very minimalistic.
Why Minimalism?
Minimalism is organized. Human beings are usually attracted to patterns of organization. Laying out a minimalistic design means that everything has it's place. Blocks of text are lined up with each other so it is easy to move from one to the next.
Minimalism strives for functionality. Form and function are intertwined. As Skelliewag.org puts it, "most websites…house content and navigational elements inside images and color arrangements which serve no other purpose than to be pretty. Minimalist websites, however, do both at the same time, often allowing content and navigational elements to enter the realm of the aesthetic." Minimalistic sites have few bells and whistles. Every element on the page serves a purpose.
Minimalism stands out. The plague of the "also important" is so widespread that today it feels normal. Buying ad space in a magazine and placing a minimalistic ad there will not be able to cover your organization's 99 greatest features, but will grab attention. It doesn't matter how convincing your argument is, if no one reads it.
Minimalism helps focus. By killing off the "also important" the really important has room to thrive. The most important stands alone and can deliver a clear message to your customers/donors. Say a visitor comes to your website, (lets pretend that you have 100% of their attention) and there are just two things on it. A visitor's focus is split between the two; each getting 50%. Now, what if there were 6 content areas and 30 design elements? A visitor may struggle to focus on anything.
Achieving Minimalism
Prioritize
Every project needs to have a primary purpose. Within that project every page or every minute should work towards that purpose. The key comes in defining what the primary purpose really is – you can't have two primary purposes. To arrive on the top priority, make a list of goals you would like to achieve. After the goals are written, number them in priority. As you do this you may notice that some goals are really sub-goals of other goals, combine them and move on. When you are finished there should be one #1 and it should be less than one sentence long.
Simplify
“I would have written a shorter letter, but I didn’t have the time,” –Mark Twain.
Concision is critically important in a culture where people get the news by reading headlines only. When a designer doesn't have to cram thousands of words on to one page he is able to use imagery effectively, guide the eye with whitespace and create a visually clean design.
Commit
Pack rat tendencies are strong. You know those houses they show on daytime talk shows where there is so much stuff, it is nearly impossible to walk through the house? No matter how many gallons of Mr. Clean they use, the house will still be a mess until they start to throw stuff out. It is the same way with minimalism. Things have to be thrown away. Things that in their own right seem important or even necessary have to be removed if they do not contribute to accomplishing the primary purpose.
The rewards of minimalism are great. But achiving it is difficult and really requires a partnership between the designers and the requester. If both sides come to the table commited to a clean layout, the finished deliverable will surely standout in the marketplace.
A top graduate of Asbury College's acclaimed Media Communications program, Peter is as creatively wise as he is technically savvy. He knows business and marketing while spending his days where the rubber meets the road in code and design. Peter also writes at his blog, PeterVCook.com.