Embracing the minimalist design

There are two website design styles that have become so trendy that you might be slightly concerned about using them: minimalism and responsive. However, if you want to capture the attention of today’s Internet user and ensure that everything works properly across multiple platforms, it is definitely wise to turn to the responsive design. Additionally, you can take a minimalist approach without losing the overall impact of how the responsive design is intended to work.

Why is the Minimalist Design So Popular Right Now?

For the past few years, the minimalist design has been rising in popularity, and this makes perfect sense when you reflect back on just how cluttered the Internet used to be. Back in the mid ‘90s, many professional designers seemed to believe that more was better, and this led to a very confusing experience for even the most adept users. Over time, some of the clutter was cleared up to help people navigate more easily, but trends such as Flash rose to the forefront. Smartphones have had the single biggest impact on the Internet since it was originally made available for home usage. As all website designers know, it is now necessary to create a design that renders properly on a variety of devices, and this makes simplicity a very good thing. Even still, many companies and designers have been hesitant to strip their sites down, perhaps out of fear that their visitors would not enjoy this approach.

What Elements Does a Good Minimalist Design Need?

When many people hear the word minimalist, they erroneously believe that they can basically put up next to nothing and get a good result. The reality is that there are a few guidelines that need to be followed to develop a cohesive look that is aesthetically pleasing, minimalistic and easy for visitors to navigate. Some of the things that you should incorporate into any minimalist design include the proper usage of negative space, stunning contrast, dramatic typography, symmetry and extremely simple navigation. You can also incorporate large photographs and the latest flat design techniques to take your website to the next level.

Templates for WordPress

Many WordPress users, including professional companies, opt to take existing themes and work their needs into them as opposed to trying to create something from scratch. This will save you a lot of time, and it is still possible with many of the themes to bring at least some customization to the process. If this is how you would prefer to build a minimalist WordPress site, you can choose from many prebuilt themes that truly harness the power of this design style.

Templates for Non-WordPress Sites

Perhaps you prefer to use a template, but you do not want to be locked into the WordPress platform. In this scenario, you will want to pay close attention to the minimalist template offerings that are available from hosting companies that include website builders. Fortunately, you can rely on website builder reviews to help you narrow down your options more quickly.

Creating a Minimalist Design

Templates are the quickest route, but they definitely have drawbacks. For example, it is definitely possible to inadvertently end up using the same template as one of your competitors. This would cause consumer confusion, and it might even make your current and potential customers believe that both businesses are associated with each other. The good news is that an experienced website designer should have no difficulty making a unique minimalist website by simply incorporating the previously listed design elements. However, if you are planning to make your own site and have limited experience, you will want to develop a better understanding of each key component, especially negative space.

Negative Space

To get the most out of this design element, ensure that your negative space effectively calls attention to the pertinent photos, text or navigational tool. Ultimately, this space is meant to manipulate the viewer’s eyes by practically forcing them to look at anything that is not within this space. If used appropriately, no one will miss the most crucial details of your site. The minimalist design may be trendy right now, but it has always been a solid design choice. If you want your website to appear sophisticated and render correctly across all platforms, minimalism is definitely an ideal choice. By: Catalin Zorzini]]>