Minimalist Graphic Design and Why it Matters in the Digital Age
Minimalist Graphic Design and Why it Matters in the Digital Age
As we progress into this new decade, minimalist graphic design has come to be more prevalent than ever before. Partly due to the influence of Steve Jobs and his revolution of mobile devices, his design philosophies are part and parcel of our daily user experiences. If you have ever seen an Apple keynote presentation or bought their products in the past decade, you would have noted the clean white background with beautiful fonts. Clear, immediate, and understandable are three items that they place highly on their list of design principles.
With the advance of handheld smartphones, information has to be conveyed concisely while fitting it all onto a relatively tiny screen. This has led to minimalistic design being the artistic style of choice in our current day. It can be done with just a few simple tools and software, but still make an impact in conveying messages digitally.
Understanding and effectively using minimalist design is an invaluable skill that would help any aspiring digital artist stand out from the crowd. Here are some steps you can take to start your journey.
Make the Message as Your Focus
It is in the name. Minimalist. Less is more. You would wish to avoid using too many elements and assets which clutters your design and takes the focus away from your core message. By keeping things simple, you avoid distracting the viewer and improve readability. Usually, a single design element would be enough.
Color and font choice are equally important as you would have very few other items included in your clean minimal design. Choose color shades and fonts that are less jarring when placed together in your finished design, and always remember to stick to a limited palette. More on this later.
Harmony
Every finished design should be properly balanced. As you are working on limited elements, anything that stands out too much will be immediately noticeable. Proper use of white spaces can subtly draw attention to choice elements where appropriate.
Having a grid system is a great way to guide your work as you attempt to keep everything visually even and distributed throughout. This is even more essential in website design as you ensure that your vital elements are not overshadowed and still keeping everything aesthetically pleasing.
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Restrict Your Color Pallete
As previously stated, using a few choice colors would convey your message more evenly while still placing the focus on your key elements. Choose shades that complement the feeling you wish to express.
A tool you can use to great effect is the use of extreme contrast.
We already mentioned the importance of allowing large areas of white to draw more attention to other elements. But when deciding which colors to use, go for shades that offer the feeling you want to convey to visitors. A minimalist design uses only a few colors that work well together and help create the emotion you want for the site.
Since minimalism restrains the use of colors, a very powerful tool in the hands of a minimalist graphic designer is contrast. Extreme contrast can be the key to creating an eye-catching element that impacts the visitor and fills them with a desire to learn more. This strategy isn’t effective on a site with many colors already in use, which is why it’s a popular trick used on minimalist designs to make their site easier to read and user-friendly.
Final Thoughts
Having an effective command in your minimalist design language can do wonders for your creative goals. These days, more clutter simply distracts from your visual message. Less is now definitely more!
