NEWS • 28 February 2014

Minimalism in web design

In recent years Minimalism has become increasingly popular in web design. Minimalism essentially works on the principle that “less is more”, where websites display far fewer images and text in order to transmit a much more concise message and improve visitor experience.

Using Minimalism, websites should only display necessary information and not be cluttered with anything extraneous. The information displayed doesn’t overwhelm or repel visitors and the message/services of the website can be communicated clearly and in a straightforward manner. With a cluttered, busy website customers may become frustrated and confused, and consequently have a negative visitor experience, which is likely to reflect badly on your organisation’s brand identity.

If you’re interested in redesigning your website and want to go for a minimalist design, a good rule is to examine your existing website layout and remove elements until you reach a point where, if anything further was removed, the website would no longer function in its intended capacity. Think whether each element is vital to the website and if they aren’t, remove those elements or hide them from the first view of the page, perhaps using ‘Show more’ links or lightboxes.

This reduction also means that what is left is now extremely important. Images, font, colours have to be carefully considered to ensure your website successfully communicates its message. Poor choices in font and colour, as well as spelling mistakes or missing words, must be avoided as they will be much more noticeable with a minimal website design.

In terms of colour, consider using a few pastel colours only on your website, and ensure the colours match and are not too strong. Furthermore, using one font only is best as this will improve your website’s clarity. Ensure the font chosen is clean and readable, as many fonts may look interesting but hinder communication. Finally, consider the choice of words used carefully. Generally, any text written on your website should be clear, unambiguous and potential misinterpretation should be kept to a minimum.

So, as long as the pitfalls mentioned above can be avoided, a minimalist website design could be a great way to freshen your website and aid visitor experience.

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