What are the characteristics of minimalistic website design? The basic principle is: less is more. That doesn’t mean that the website’s look is lacking. Quite the opposite – the graphic designer often has to do a lot of work and have the intuition in order to achieve the Maximum effect using only Minimum resources. How does it work in practice?
What is minimalistic web design?
In different areas of visual arts over the ages, minimalism has been about leaving only the parts of an object that matter, in order to focus the viewer’s attention on it, as well as improve the overall aesthetics of the design. These days minimalism has been reborn as a powerful technique in modern website design. It became popular as a response to the trend of growing complexity in web design (image complexity impacts the user’s perception of a website: the more elements a design has, the less clear and intuitive it will look to the visitor). When done right, minimalism can help us focus on those elements of our design that help make the user interaction simpler.
In order to create a truly minimalistic interface, the designer has to rigorously arrange the elements, only showing the essential ones and removing everything (like decorative elements) distracting users from what’s important. Every item of a design should serve a purpose; it shouldn’t be activated unless it’s necessary for the message to be clear. At the same time, we need to make sure if we’re not making it harder for a user to visit the website by removing or hiding the content that they need. It’s all about making the message Clearer, not more obscure.
The characteristics of minimalistic websites
The characteristics of minimalistic website design:
- white background,
- large margins and space management,
- small amount (or none) of decorative elements,
- reduced, usually achromatic (colorless) palette,
- concise and clear message,
- text and font management,
- no intrusiveness (pop-ups, soliciting anything etc…).
Websites with minimalistic features aren’t hard to find. For many years now, famous and renown brands such as Apple have been consequently using minimalistic solutions, which should be a food for thought for website creators and publisher targeting large audiences.
It needs to be noted that website minimalism is not a consequence of some sort of fad, but it’s actually a translation of a brand philosophy to the language of creating websites and online stores.
Google as a standard in minimalism
Research shows that minimalistic websites have a lower bounce rate. Minimalism has also provided websites with additional benefits thanks to faster loading times and better compatibility with screen sizes. One of the most famous examples of minimalism in website design may be the Google search engine.
From the very start (ever since offering the beta version in the 1990s), the Google company has always made it a priority to keep their interfaces simple. The homepage was designed entirely around the central search feature. Its Simplicity may lead to a belief that minimalism is not complicated, but there’s much more to it under this superficial observation. The minimalistic strategy of website design consists of simplifying interfaces by removing elements and contents that are not necessary for the user to interact with our website.
