Minimalism, the Economy and Web Design
Minimalism, the Economy and Web Design
This fall’s fashions include lots of neat, uncluttered lines of black and grey. Coca Cola and Pepsi have carried the cola wars onto their packaging. With the recent launch of new packaging from both camps, it appears they are trying to outdo each other with sparse designs that are free of drop shadows, keylines and other graphic accoutrements.
However, if you spoke to a web designer, he or she might want to get at least a share of the credit for current deign trends. You see, web designers had minimalism thrust upon them long before the recession.
The “canvases” that clothing and package designers use haven’t changed much over the years. The human body has remained the same for about 10,000 years, and didn’t change much when it did. The iconic Coke bottle has the same basic shape that it had over 100 years ago.
At the other end of the spectrum is the “canvas” of the web designer, the PC monitor. Web design has been a real profession for about 15 years. In that time, PC monitors have quadrupled in size. In the early 1990s, many internet users were still using VGA monitors, which restricted web designers to a frame of 640 pixels by 480 pixels. Today, monitor resolutions of 1280 x 1024 are common.
What does a designer do when contents remain the same, but the frame is larger, Moving elements apart, to fill up the new space, is an early inclination. When web designers did this, they discovered the power of “whitespace” – a gap between elements in web design that, if used correctly, help the page contents be better and more easily consumed by the viewer.
Whitespace has become an integral part of today’s most successful web designs, which, when compared to earlier designs, look nothing short of minimalist.
If you want an example of very successful “minimalist” web design, which predates the current recession (and even the tech bubble), try Google’s homepage.
Minimalism the Economy and Web Design - To learn more about this author, visit Max Kalles's Website.
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The interconnectedness of things is fascinating. The effect that the economy exerts on fashion and design is an example. As we approach the recession’s second birthday, minimalism appears to be making a comeback on haute couture runways and product packaging.
This fall’s fashions include lots of neat, uncluttered lines of black and grey. Coca Cola and Pepsi have carried the cola wars onto their packaging. With the recent launch of new packaging from both camps, it appears they are trying to outdo each other with sparse designs that are free of drop shadows, keylines and other graphic accoutrements.
However, if you spoke to a web designer, he or she might want to get at least a share of the credit for current deign trends. You see, web designers had minimalism thrust upon them long before the recession.
The “canvases” that clothing and package designers use haven’t changed much over the years. The human body has remained the same for about 10,000 years, and didn’t change much when it did. The iconic Coke bottle has the same basic shape that it had over 100 years ago.
At the other end of the spectrum is the “canvas” of the web designer, the PC monitor. Web design has been a real profession for about 15 years. In that time, PC monitors have quadrupled in size. In the early 1990s, many internet users were still using VGA monitors, which restricted web designers to a frame of 640 pixels by 480 pixels. Today, monitor resolutions of 1280 x 1024 are common.
What does a designer do when contents remain the same, but the frame is larger, Moving elements apart, to fill up the new space, is an early inclination. When web designers did this, they discovered the power of “whitespace” – a gap between elements in web design that, if used correctly, help the page contents be better and more easily consumed by the viewer.
Whitespace has become an integral part of today’s most successful web designs, which, when compared to earlier designs, look nothing short of minimalist.
If you want an example of very successful “minimalist” web design, which predates the current recession (and even the tech bubble), try Google’s homepage.
Minimalism the Economy and Web Design - To learn more about this author, visit Max Kalles's Website.
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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