Design your way

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Minimalism, whether in web page design or in any other artistic sphere, is reducing a design to its essential elements. The concept of minimalism is part of many artistic disciplines, including music and literature. However, many web designers find the concept and its execution intimidating and difficult.

However, minimalism is not really difficult. Essentially, minimalism is simply removing anything that is not necessary for your design to function. You simply remove design elements until nothing further can be removed without compromising the design’s purpose.

The principle of minimalism in web site design is that you achieve the effect by using only those design elements necessary for the given design. In other words, using the least number of design elements to achieve a web design that in its effect is more than the sum of its parts.

Removing useless design elements

When thinking about a minimalist web design, think about what design elements are necessary to the web site’s content and its function. Then concentrate solely on those elements, omitting anything which makes no direct contribution to either content or function.

It is important to bear in mind that some design and graphic elements directly affect a web site’s eventual user experience in terms of its ease of use and how easily it reads.

At every point in the design process, spend time questioning the necessity of each element to the site’s purpose and function. That purpose and concentration may alter during the design process, so it is wise to continually question the necessity of elements at all stages to ensure that your thinking constantly reflects your actions.

Designers with access to a test site should try clicking the tracking software on that test site in order to find unused elements. Then they should consider, whether the unused elements should be removed completely or moved to a different place.

Creating clean, uncluttered, simple, minimal designs avoids confusing site visitors. It shows visitors the site’s offer, without unnecessary distractions, and gives the site’s message with premium efficiency.

Typography in minimalist web design

First impressions, especially of web sites, are lasting impressions. Visitors whose first sight of a web site gives them the impression that the site will be difficult to read will simply go to another site. Typography creates an impression before users have read a single word or clicked on anything at all.

Typography does much more than simply tells the story about the product or service offered by the web site. It tells the user about the character both of the web site and the company or individual who owns the site.

How one uses and treats type can, like using different tones of voice in conversation, create ambiance and elicit particular required responses. Understanding how type is a tool which enables reader to quickly and easily comprehend the web site’s intended message.

Typography is crucial to the user’s effortless comprehension of the website’s message. Minimalist typography that is well formatted ensures that users concentrate on the site’s content rather than on the effort necessary to read that content.

Choosing suitable typography for a minimalist design web site is a very important stage of design, because type has an enormous effect on the web site, how visitors understand the content and the overall look and feel of the finished site.

Fonts for minimalist designs

Minimalist web site design relies heavily on typography, so it is vitally important to use suitable fonts. Finding the correct font or typeface for a particular design can be difficult and having a good selection of such fonts available helps the process considerably.

Sansation

Exo

Aaargh

Milano

Chelsea

Penna

Raleway

Adequate

BonvenoCF

Existence Light

Aurulent Sans

Lane

Quicksand

Museo Sans

Mentone

Walkway

Kaffeesatz

Showcase

Minimalism, in all artistic areas, continues to remain popular because it conveys sophistication. A minimalist web site design is stripped of unnecessary visual elements, colors and effects to leave the underlying structure.

The important elements in creating a beautiful minimalist web site are a solid, well-structured layout and a concentration on stylish, well designed typography.

Properly designed minimalist web sites always inspire. Seeing different designers’ approaches towards minimalist design is always interesting and instructive. Minimalist designers create simple, but effective web sites that convey their intended message in a way that users can easily and readily understand.

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