10 · 29

Elements and Principles for Creating Minimalist Web Design

Here is a great Web Design article from Tripwire Magazine! Are you a minimalist when it comes to design?

Elements and Principles for Creating Minimalist Web Design

 

Web Design comes in many flavors, but as you probably have noticed several times minimalist web design can be particularly beautiful and effective for achieving a specific goal. Even though most designer know the strengths of minimalist web design they find it very hard to create designs with very few elements that still look great and that doesn’t tend to be boring. In this article I will go through some of the main considerations designers need to do when working with minimalistic web design and provide a showcase of exceptional examples to be inspired from. In fact it is possible to master minimalism and fundamentally it is about breaking design requirement down to the barest elements necessary for the overall design to work as intended and this way get rid of everything that does not have a function or a purpose.

Design Elements and Principles of Minimalistic Design

Design concepts are typically described using design elements and principles and it is a really good idea to study these to keep the basics in mind when creating designs. Design elements are the basic units of a visual image where example can be Space, Line, Color, Shape and so on. Design principles represent the basic assumptions and rules that govern the relationships of the elements. Examples of principles can be Unity, Harmony, Proportion, Contrast, Repetition and so on. Remember principle are defined to be followed!

image

 

Less is More

You heard this sentence before I know, but Less is More is important for minimalist design – even though it is probably not really a design principle. The reason is that by removing non essential design elements the important elements stand out and provides more value to the viewer. By putting focus on the content minimalist design makes it easier for the viewer to interpret and understand and the risk of misunderstandings and confusion is reduced compared to design that is completely stuffed up.

In the example below the designer have left out a lot of details found on most portfolios to direct focus on the art and invitation to view the portfolio. There are not disturbing elements and it is just about showcasing work and giving options for getting connected.

bobbadesign

 

Minimalism “Less” can also be extreme to a point where visitors may think – did this page load correctly? However in this example clicking a menu item makes it fold out and it works quite well.

oskar

 

Contrast

Minimalistic web design very often makes use of strong contrast to separate elements and give more space. This is for example seen below with use of black elements on a white background and different colors for the elements in the Bulletin. Contrast is also used to create visual elements of significance that guide the viewer. Lack of contrast can result in a design where all elements melt together making it hard for the user to navigate.

proudcreative

 

blakeallendesign

 

Another way to use contract is to utilize images to get the attention of the visitor.

image

Contrast can also take form in how elements are organized. In this is seen below where some elements are nicely ordered in a grid while others simply break the order.

corporateriskwatch

 

Proximity and Similarity

Proximity and similarity are two of the four grouping concepts in classic gestalt theory (the other two are closure and simplicity). Similarity refers to elements that look similar and how this affect the viewers impression of grouping. Proximity has to do with how elements are grouped based on placement. A simple example of these principles can be illustrated below. The menu items at the right lower corner are placed in a green box and close to each other and we naturally group them together. Another example is the text below the headings “Client Portfolio” “and Periscope Gadget”. Our brain naturally group the text to the heading above it.

tenseveninteractive

 

Alignment

Alignment is a variation of proximity and is an important principle for most types of web design, and essential for creating minimalistic designs. The reason why alignment is worth taking serious is to be found in the way the human brain organize and group impressions. Elements that either look similar or are aligned visually is simply much easier to comprehend. This is one of the reason why grid based design have become so popular lately.

the grid system

 

ioadv

 

fitzroyandfinn

 

Repetition

Repetition is about repeating some aspect throughout the design. Repetition can be thought of as consistency and it is a great principle to use when creating minimalistic design. Repetition is actually used more or less everywhere in web design, like e.g. menus where button design is repeated again and again. However it is also possible to use repetition in more sophisticated ways like for example repeating shapes and icons even with different colors. Consider the example below and pay attention how the circular shape is repeated all over.

condomcondom

 

Also in the example below there is an arrow being repeated in different colors. And the design for how Services and Process is organized in an colored box at the left and then a dark box also repeats.

tvlcorp

 

How to create Minimalist Web Designs

Leave out unnecessary elements

Most web sites have a purpose and either serve visitors information or request them to take action. You need to understand the purpose of the content before you start removing design elements to make it more minimalistic. Once the basic functional requirements are know you can use this knowledge to consider what elements that are necessary to support the visitor in achieving what ever goal the site owner have and hunt down elements that may just be disturbing. If a company have an important strategy for improving its presence in the social media space social media buttons may be very important while in other cases they are just distracting the visitors from doing taking the right actions.

joshuaserbus

 

ah-studio

 

Remove elements until the function of the design breaks

With the understanding of what the design goals are you should start removing elements until you are certain the design fails to deliver what is expected. Remember you can add elements again and find a better spot for them as more and more space becomes available. Below is an example where the main page have nothing but a huge navigation. The concept is clearly to make it easy for the visitor to make a decision and get to the right sub page at first try.

briandanaher

 

In the example below there is no navigation. The designer have probably done this by intention and while you may think – no way! – it actually works fine.

image

eduardosully

 

Understand and use the role of white space

A key element of minimalist design is using white space (or empty space, negative space) to emphasize the elements that have been hand-picked to be included. Leaving space between the elements gives the viewer the feeling that the page is larger than it is and it makes the page calm and easy to digest – fundamentally it is the same principle know from painting rooms. A dark ceiling makes the room “smaller” and in some cases gives people a feeling that the ceiling will fall down on them.

neueblanc

 

iconwerk

 

non-format

 

Work with the details of remaining elements

Since minimalistic design is about leaving out as much as possible to make certain elements work better it is very important to focus on the details of the remaining elements. Focus on the details and on how elements in the design can support the overall design goal better is an important part of making minimalistic design perfect. This may be achieved by playing with the typography, adding a different color, changing the size and form of various elements etc.

In the example below there has been put an extra effort into designing the typography for the page title and it is one way to work with this principle.

agencescripto

 

designzoom

 

bernatfortet

 

Use color with extreme caution

Minimalism tend to have room for very few colors and yes it is how it is supposed to be. However minimalist design opens up for new way to use colors to enforce attention to specific elements. Now this effectively means that there is no colors that should not be used as such you just need to color minimally as well and keep the palette simple. It can have a really strong effect if a single color is used on different elements logo, typography, buttons etc. as in the examples below.

blumenthal

What is your opinion?

Have you done any minimalist web design so far? What is your view on how to create minimalist web design and do you like it at all? Please share your thoughts in a comment below!

 

10 · 29

WiFi-only Galaxy Tab passes through FCC

Samsung Galaxy Tab WiFi

As the Samsung Galaxy Tab nears launch here in the U.S., one question still looms: will there be a WiFi-only version? We have heard rumors on both sides, but the affirmative side just got a big boost as it appears a WiFi-only version passed through the FCC.

The device has been known as the GT-P1010 and quietly received approval. This is great news for consumers who want the Galaxy Tab but don't want to be tied to a specific carrier. No release date or pricing details yet, but we'll update you when we find out. [FCC via IntoMobile]

10 · 29

10 Free Alternatives to Photoshop | Tech King

Everyone has heard of Adobe >Photoshop. It is one of the most popular and expensive image editing programs you can buy. For those of you who do not have the hundreds of dollars to plop down on software I have compiled a list of nice photo editing applications you can use instead.

Cross-Platform

Gimp

While GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a nice graphics editor it is an excellant tool to retouch and edit images.

Inkscape

Another great, free graphics editing program. Inkscape is actively developed and new features are added regularly.

Windows

Paint.Net

This Microsoft Windows only graphics editiong program was developed on the .NET Framework. It provides many powerful image editing tools.

Pixia

A freeware bitmap graphics editor developed in Japan. Has several nice features including native Wacom table support.

Mac

Seashore

An opensource image editor for Mad OS X. Seashore is based on GIMP and provides support for many different file formats.

ChocoFlop

While development on this graphics software has stopped it is still a very nice, fast image editor for Mac users.

Online

Snipshot

Offers basic editing tools and image adjustments in a nice interface.

Picnik

This online photo editing site is one of my favorites. Has functonality that allows you to easily import and share photos from sites like Facebook and Flickr.

Pixlr

An advanced online photo editor that provides a nice looking, easy to use interface.

Pixer.us

Has a simple interface that allows you to easily crop, rotate, and adjust the brightness, contrast, and saturation of your photos.

There are many more applications you can use to edit your photos but these are some of the better ones out there. If there is one you love to use but is not on the list please share it in the comments.

10 · 29

DROID 2 Joining Incredible in the FREE Category Tomorrow at Best Buy

We received a tip earlier that the Droid 2 would be joining the Incredible tomorrow in Best Buy’s “Free Phone Friday” promo, but wanted to show you the official proof. While it won’t be announced with the October promo, just know that you can still walk in and grab one for free. They should have just called it “DROID Phone Friday” and taken over the world.

Crank up the Incredible HD and Droid 2 Global rumors!

10 · 29

Samsung Nexus Two GT-i9010 clears the FCC?

A new Samsung smartphone with the model number GT-i9010 appeared on the FCC’s site and there is the small possibility it could be the upcoming Nexus Two. There is no actual hard evidence that I can find about which smartphone this might actually be, but we know from Gizmodo’s hands-on report with the Nexus Two that it comes from the Galaxy S family.

The original international version of the Galaxy S had the model number GT-i9000, so it is believable that an upgraded phone would use a sequential model number like GT-i9010. The same smartphone has also been approved by the Wi-Fi Alliance.

Samsung submitted the FCC documents on October 28th so that gives you an idea of how fresh this is. Hopefully by sharing this new model number GT-i9010, someone out there can do some more digging and come up with some new information.

Only 11 more days and then we find out for real. What do you want to bet we have some blurrycam photos before Samsung’s big event?

Update: I like posting stories like this because people are quick to inform me when I’m wrong. An anonymous insider who has the phone in hands just pinged me and said the GT-i9010 is not the Nexus Two. He claims the new Samsung Nexus has much better hardware than the Galaxy S and features a 1.2 GHz processor. He also thinks the design is “more sexy” than the Galaxy S.

[Thank you Alex for the FCC tip]

Kyle Reddoch

I am an aspiring Web Developer, Android Fanatic, Family Man, and all around Web Geek! I also do Freelance Development work.

About

My Journey through the Interwebs!