Minimal design: How does it work?

Introduction into the Minimal Design

Obviously, you've heard that simpler design = better design for many times. The whole concept of it has conquered the graphic world, but how many designers apply it for a sake of it's purpose, not because it's a trend? Does it actually apply everywhere? What is a thing about minimal design? How would you make one? Let's try to answer these questions.

Minimal design characterized by it's extreme simplicity, space and reserved color palette. It only contains essential elements.

Relevancy

While many people see minimal design as something with a lot of white space, little text and simple logo, it's more than that. Minimal design stands for it's most important point, relevancy. You can achieve it by creating meaningful design, matching the energy of your brand and contributing into it's identity. How can you create and sustain relevancy?

Message

The key of making any design, wether it's minimal or not, is the message you should have for your viewers. Everything works here - from logo and type on the cover to color and overall composition.By the way, you're allowed to break any rules of what you know - experiment to show what your design really is. Being flexible can help you find something new and working. But don't distract the viewer from your main point.

Colors

 Main things, that make our design minimal, should include the message and main point; it also shouldn't distract the viewer with secondary details. Color choice can put a great deal in that. Design can have many colors and still be Minimal - it will be achieved by keeping along with the purpose of it.

Research your brand or product to choose the right colors for the brand identity. Here, we would like to highlight our own product as an example: you can see that Youtube templates have red branding color, while our Audio Visual Kit has blue, as it symbolises waveform. Colors can expose the purpose of your design even without a single word on a cover. 

Composition

Don't add too much details to your design, but you already know that it won't make it minimal. Design should have hierarchy, focal points and balance, as we mentioned in our previous article, How to control the audience eye by design. By removing the unnecessary details, we can unlock the white space in our design - one of the features minimal design is known for. It will play a great role in helping the viewer to focus on the right elements. Yes, it works!And keep the logo - if you will brand your visuals, customer will remember the product.

Typography

Be sure, while color can make your design stronger or weaker, typography can make it or break it. Picking the relevant font can be the hardest task, but if you know your brand well, it won't be that hard. Use two fonts where you need - accent and complimentary, but not more. Less is more and it definitely works for type. Minimalist typography is not only about the font choice, but also font weight, tracking, kerning, leading, layout positioning and color.

Hope with these tips you can create the design you need - clean, speaking and unique. If you like this article, you may also want to read our Principles all designers should know, which says a great deal about the way minimal design was applied by genius Massimo Vignelli.

Thank you for reading! We hope you've found something new and relevant for yourself.