What to do if your corridor is so narrow that a closet, chest of drawers or even a shoe rack does not fit there? Of course, you can resign yourself and leave the space unused, or you can show a little imagination and play with the shape and color of the wall, turning it into some kind of functional space.

So, we need the hallway to look beautiful and at the same time be functional. The task is not easy, but we have imagination!

The blank wall we have is an excellent material to work with. You just need to take a creative look at the problem of space planning. First, we need to divide it into several parts. This can be done using color, light, and various hangers and hooks. In this case, you can use non-standard hangers, for example, as shown in the picture, use paintings with black and white drawings, on which to attach hooks for clothes. It will look impressive and very functional. In our minimalist design, it is better to give preference to the black and white color scheme, because it is ideal for small spaces.

A horizontal strip in the form of photo hangers will be our main decorative element, and the main guide in our design. It is better to make a main recess in the middle of the corridor, on which you can hang the main frame with a photo or an LCD monitor. Below the strip of photographs, you can symmetrically place shelves on which we will store various small items. And under the shelves you can place stylish shoe boxes.

A good design element for our corridor will be magnetic boards that can be placed next to the door. You can leave keys on them, as well as attach reminders about important dates or business.

An excellent addition to our interior can be electric lamps, made in the form metal pipes. They will not only provide additional light in the corridor, but will also be able to vertically delimit its space, which will give the interior a unique atmosphere.

This design will appeal to all lovers of simplicity and modernity. However, it can be improved to suit your taste, show a little imagination, experiment with details and colors and create your own design masterpiece in the hallway.

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You've probably heard the term "minimalism" here and there, especially in the last few years, but what exactly is it and how can we make the most of it?

Minimalism can be described as eliminating all unnecessary elements and focusing on what is necessary. As such, minimalism attracts success.

While minimalism is often simple on the outside, a lot of thought, practice and time goes into creating and designing a minimalist object. So, here are some ways that you can use to achieve minimalism.

1. Achieve consistency

A minimalist logo can be incredibly useful when it comes to creating a brand identity. Use this bar design from Simon McWhinney as an example. By keeping the logo very simple and the color palette minimal, the design becomes flexible enough to be used in all corporate media quite seamlessly, creating a consistent and very memorable brand.

2.Explore hidden connections

Going minimalist doesn't mean your design has to be any less creative. In fact, when you're not bogged down in details, you often get a chance to explore and play with the clever relationships hidden in your design. Look at the branding done by Interband for the Australian Opera, the minimalist design explored the well thought out connection between the words "OPERA", "OPERA AUSTRALIA" and "OZ OPERA".

3. Play with spatial relationships

Minimalism can allow you to consider spatial relationships in your design in ways you haven't seen them before. Take into account how your design interacts with other elements to create a larger design, such as the one in these business cards, designed by Trevor Finnegan, lining up.

4. Be smart

Minimalism does not mean the absence of illustrative elements, but rather the careful choice of when and where to use them. By working with illustrative elements that turn a company name into a logo, similar to what Frame Creative did with this branding, you can create a very visual and also very minimalist design.

5. Use precision

Minimalism is often about removing all unnecessary things and focusing on communication. Look at how these business cards from Jake Frey are designed, displaying his contact information neatly and accurately, without making flashy visuals necessary.

6. Use a modular grid

As you already know, grids are very useful (some might say vital) for many types of design, and this is especially true for minimalism. If your design doesn't have many elements, it's good opportunity play with your modular grid. Take note of this cutting-edge design from Jessica Giboyne, who uses a grid layout to create a strong sense of disciplined copy of blocks of text with headings and graphic elements, generating a clean, simple and effective design.

7. Let's achieve functionality

Minimalism can be great for functionality. A neat, clear, and not cluttered design can serve as easy navigation, as in James Cape's content page design. Minimalist design and clear typographic hierarchy make navigation through the page content fast, simple and functional.

8. Find your balance

The relationship between visual elements such as photographs and typographic elements is important to getting it right. Good design often care is taken to ensure that no element overwhelms another without good reason. In this example post from Mother Design, more simple photos are arranged with large, informative amounts of text, while full, large images are paired with small blocks of text, thereby creating balance and harmony between pages.

9. Break some rules

As noted, minimalism gives you a special chance to experiment with your design in ways you haven't seen before, and sometimes that means bending the rules a little. Take this logo from Rabbi White as an example, by showing half of the logo upside down as a bit of outrageous design, it creates something that in any other example would look unreadable. But thanks to the incredible simplicity and minimalist nature of the brand, this crazy solution works really well as a visual element.

10. Visualize your font

Type is an important weapon that should not be forgotten, especially when it comes to minimalism. It can act as a visual element, especially when it is slightly modified to suit the situation, much like the open spread from Italian Vogue. Making the font look like water ripples creates a strong visual effect without using any pictures, keeping the final design simple and neat.

11.White space is the right space

White space, also known as “negative space,” can sometimes look like just empty paper space, but that's not entirely true! When used correctly, white space can help balance your design, eliminate overcrowding, and help it breathe. Look at an example of book design from Studioahamed, where the idea white space was taken as a basis and used to the maximum, resulting in a classic minimalist design.

12. Explore your options

What's more minimal than an all-white palette? The design should not be limited to the monitor screen, using it also when the product goes to print, you can give it a unique taste and difference from all the others. Taking into account text printing or embossing effects, your printed products can complement and deepen a minimalist design, as shown in this example from Adam Buente.

13. Texture

When studying minimalism, it's easy to see that, as a general rule, to be minimalist you should mostly use flat-panel printing, but this is not a strict requirement. Adding texture to your design can add depth and effectiveness to your desires without going overboard with minimalism. Texture definitely works well when it's balanced with precision, calm flowers Just like the website/branding example above from Watts Design, who use texture in balance with simple photography and branding to create a highly effective design.

14. Think outside the box

Quite literally. Minimalism can allow you to be more playful with the placement and composition of your elements, as shown in this post from Gregmadeit. Placing type at the edge of the page creates a unique eye-catching effect without compromising the readability of the text.

15.Be open

When you have a few elements fighting to be seen, you have to be much more open with your message and overall communication. This is especially powerful when it comes to web design, when we all log in and browse pages, a simple message with a guide to action, as shown on Nine Sixty's website, helps give the reader an idea of ​​who they are to you in that very moment .

16. Use scale

Using minimalism, you must say with precision what your audience's eyes will be directed to first, and one way to achieve this is scale. Look at the elements in the spread from Saturdays Magazine, the eye immediately goes to the largest element: the quote on the right page, then the photo, then the text. A simple design that is just scaled will help you dictate the correct reading order for your audience.

17. Not everything is black and white

Many people believe that monochromatic color palettes are all that is used in minimalism, but this is not entirely true. Color can be used to create an eye-catching design without going beyond minimalism, as long as the palette remains very small (1-3 colors are best). Check out this example from Moruba, where bright yellow combined with a stark black and white logo work together to make a truly successful and striking (while still being minimalist) design.

18. Be more active

Minimalist design can really help increase the fluidity of your ideas, especially in practical use. For example, this branding from Buro Ufho consists of a simple logo with a serif font and two blocks of color fills. This noteworthy branding has high level flexibility within its color palette; The color of the diagonal blocks can be changed quite easily without losing any of the signature features, all thanks to the simple yet unique minimalist design.

19. Use symbolism

Minimalism is a good chance for you to explore the depth of symbolism with your design. Try and think about the object, about the things that are associated with it, about why the object was produced. For example, the design by Jennifer Carrow for the cover of the modern book “Against Happiness”. By transforming the font into a sad face symbol, you get a smart and memorable design.

20. Iconography

Icons are useful little icons that most of us use every day, from application icons to icons in the computer's taskbar. Icons can be used very effectively in the world of minimalism. They can enhance accessibility, reduce the amount of text or fonts you have on your page, and help other users perceive your design visually. Take a look at how this website from Spab Rice uses icons on the page to aid navigation and explain their content.

21. Think typographically

Less is more, especially when it comes to minimalist typography. Using 1-3 fonts is your best chance at designing a minimalist and functional design, just like it was done in the Kalpakian example. Minimal use of backgrounds and moderate use of fonts creates readability

22. Minor changes. Big reward

The beauty of minimalism is that small changes can produce big results. Take, for example, the logo for The Pines. A simple grotesque font combined with just two stripes creates a small but beautiful visual effect that does not spoil the originality or minimalism of the logo.

23. Focus

Don't forget why you started designing: content. Minimalism works extremely well when it shows content simple design, allowing the viewer's attention to immediately go to the content of the page rather than its appearance. See how Darrin Higgins' minimalist web page design simply lets the content be the focus.

24. Contrast

Designing with high contrast will help bring your visual elements and content to the forefront and make for an easy-to-understand design. In this example, a page from Mads Burcharth, the black background of the page contrasts with the rich color of the content images, creating a simple but charming design.

25. Design for the future

Minimalism can be a vital component for your design as it has the potential to be timeless. The fewer elements your design includes, the less likely it is that they will go out of style or become irrelevant. A famous and excellent example of this is Google. Look at the screenshots of the Google page 10 years ago and today. The subtle changes made, white spaces, focus on content and minimalism of the website keep this design timeless.

To conclude the above, minimalism is not a necessary aesthetic subject or style that you can recreate, but rather a way of thinking about your design.

In typography, try to limit your use of fonts to create a more cohesive and less confusing design. Give importance to your use of vertical systems and layout within the sheet for greater readability.

In the language of color, use monochromatic schemes in all their forms, but don't feel limited by them. In certain situations, adding color here and there can really help highlight the main points of your design and draw a focal point for important elements.

Finally, try to decide what can be removed, whether it is a color from your palette or an image from your composition. Decide what can be cut, what can be replaced with something more concise. Just erase as much as you can until what's left is what's really needed.

We translated for you interesting note by TheNextWeb Amber Lee Turner, which talks about the origins of flat design, how it is changing interfaces now, and what the future holds for flat design.

If you are even slightly interested in graphic design, then you cannot help but hear about the term “flat design”. This trend first appeared on the Internet several years ago, and recently flat design has exploded and become extremely popular thanks to large companies who began to actively use flat design.

But where did this flat design come from? And why do we see it on the Internet? As with everything in design, knowing the history of the style will help you make more informed decisions when using flat design.

Let's take a look at what flat design is, what past design trends influenced it, and find out how it became so popular.

What is flat design?

For those of you who are not familiar with the meaning of flat design, you should know that flat design is a design style in which elements are devoid of any stylistic features and do not appear to be an embodiment of real objects (aka skeuomorphism).

From a layman's point of view, flat design is devoid of elements such as gradients, shadows, textures, which are intended to make the elements more voluminous and realistic.

Today, it seems that designers are gravitating heavily towards flat design because it is perceived as fresh and modern and allows you to focus on what is most important: content and message.

By getting rid of all kinds of stylistics, designers make their projects more durable and now using flat design is the most correct strategy.

But this does not mean that other styles are not taken into account at all. Often, to denote the opposite of flat style, the term “rich design” is used, which is characterized by the presence large number all kinds of decorations - bevels, reflections, shadows, gradients. “Rich design” is used to make things more “tactile”, more convenient for users browsing the website and using mobile applications.

It is important to understand that “rich design” is not the same as skeuomorphism. Skeuomorphism involves the conscious use of physical analogues of certain elements (toggle switches, buttons, skin textures, etc.) so that they look familiar to users.

Where did flat design come from?

Most of what we see now on the Internet or digital world, comes from printed and artistic ancestors. It's difficult to say exactly when the era of flat design began and where its origins lie, but there are several clear periods in design and art from which the flat style took inspiration.

Swiss style

The Swiss style (sometimes called the International Typographic Style) is the first flat design inspiration that comes to mind, so it's worth going into more detail.

Swiss design primarily focuses on the use of grid guides, sans-serif typography, and a clear hierarchy of content and design. During the 40s and 50s, Swiss design could often be seen in many photographs as a design element.

Typography is one of the key elements Swiss style and here we cannot fail to mention the Helvetica typeface, which also appeared in Switzerland in 1957 and is actively used to this day.

It is interesting to see how flat design was used even before Microsoft and Apple introduced it into their designs and made it popular, because the Swiss style can be traced even in Germany in the 20s of the 20th century. At that time it became very popular and its elements were used by the famous German school Bauhaus - art lovers will not let you lie that in the Bauhaus a great emphasis is placed on typography, which has much in common with the Swiss style.

Minimalism

A huge influence on flat design can also be found in the history of minimalism. Today, the term "minimalism" is often used interchangeably with flat design, but minimalism was popular long before flat design was invented. Minimalism has its own long-standing traditions in architecture, fine arts, and design.

Minimalism has rich history and covers different kinds art, but where flat design is now dominant, elements of minimalism are often used. Elements of minimalism such as strict geometric shapes, bright colors, clear lines are also used in flat design.

One of the most famous works art in the style of minimalism is this painting by Yves Klein “Blue Age”:

It's safe to say that the mixture of Swiss style and minimalism greatly influenced flat design and modern look digital world.

The era of flat design from Microsoft and Apple

History repeats itself and the same is true for flat design. As we learned above, flat elements could be found back in the 20s of the 20th century.

Quite a few solo designers have worked with flat design, but it was Microsoft and Apple that made it so popular. Well, let's talk about them.

Microsoft and the Metro interface

Microsoft started working with flat design long before the Metro interface appeared. In the mid-2000s, Microsoft released a competitor to the iPod - the Zune player (I'm sure some of you still remember this name - editor's note).

It was with the release of Zune that a unique designer style, which focused on large typography. Design software The Zune was a stark departure from most Microsoft software products at the time. After all Windows Phone 7 came out only at the end of 2010 and the design of this mobile OS took a lot from the Zune software interface. Large and vibrant shapes based on grid guides, sans serif typography (grotesque), flat icons.

Microsoft will soon call this interface Metro

This design became so popular that Microsoft released the Windows 8 desktop OS, which is based on the Metro interface. Clear square shapes, emphasis on typography, bright colors - all this migrated to personal computers. The same interface is used in almost all Microsoft products, including the Xbox 360.

How Apple shook up skeuomorphism

Even though Microsoft had been working on a flat interface for a long time, Apple also had some tricks up its sleeve. At first, Apple slightly hinted that it was going to abandon skeuomorphism, and with the announcement of iOS 7 in June 2013, it became clear that the Cupertino team had firmly decided to use flat design.

Since Apple had many followers at that time, the release of the “flat” iOS 7 made this design style more popular than ever. And this happened in an extremely short time (meaning the rapid transition from iOS 6 to iOS 7 - editor's note).

Apple's design aesthetic has greatly influenced the design of mobile applications and websites, as most designers have finally come to regard this style as the most modern and appropriate. When Apple switched to a flat style, skeuomorphism instantly became outdated and a huge number of sites and applications urgently needed a redesign.

This can be clearly seen in mobile applications, which significantly changed their design and interface to meet the standards of iOS 7. And this allowed users to get used to the flat iOS 7 relatively quickly.

Adaptive design

It's also worth noting that one of the reasons why flat design has become so popular is because of what's called "responsive design." With the development of Internet technologies, users of the most different devices— and first of all, from mobile phones. This forced designers to use responsive design so that sites looked equally good on full-fledged computers and on smartphones and tablets. And designers used a lot of “flat” elements when developing responsive websites.

Flat style allows web design to be more efficient. Without unnecessary elements interface, sites load faster, giving the user the opportunity to focus on the content.

This also fits well with the trend of increasing mobile device screen resolutions. It's much easier to display clean, simple shapes and typography than it is to upload heavy images every time that look different on different screen resolutions.

The future of flat design

Of course, we don't have a glass ball that predicts the future, but it is quite clear that flat design, like everything else, does not last forever and will later be replaced by some other style. After all, flat design has obvious disadvantages and designers will continue to experiment, which will ultimately lead to the emergence of a new dominant style that will leave flat design in the distant past.

In this regard, it is interesting to see what kind of design work is currently being done at Google. On the one hand, there are a lot of flat elements in their applications, but Google has not abandoned many skeuomorphic elements - for example, they still use shadows. Apparently, the “good corporation” wants to take the best from each of the styles and create its own, unique style.

Nowadays flat design is perceived as exciting fashion trend, and this is certainly an important milestone in the history of design. But don’t forget that in many ways, flat design is just the reincarnation of Swiss style and minimalism in the new digital world.

A convenient and attractive website is the basic rule of modern web design. Achieve good result allows the application of the principles of minimalism.

In this article we will talk about minimalism in web design, how to apply it correctly, what needs to be taken into account when developing minimalistic interfaces, and also explain why sometimes “less is more.”

Minimalist Design: A Brief History

Some web designers mistakenly think of minimalism primarily as an aesthetic choice. To avoid this trap, let's clarify the roots of this movement.

Although this is sufficient for design new trend, its main ideas have existed for a long time. When discussing minimalist design, one immediately comes to mind of traditional Japanese culture, which values ​​balance and simplicity. Japanese architecture, interior design, art and graphic design embody minimalism.

"Victory wind. Clear Day” by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1830). Using simple colors creates a feeling of peace

As a Western movement, minimalism began in the early 20th century. Influenced by implementation modern materials, such as glass and steel, many architects have begun to use minimalist designs in their buildings. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a German-American architect, was one of the pioneers of the minimalist movement. He is credited with the first application of the phrase "less is more" to architectural design.

The German Pavilion in Barcelona, ​​created by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in 1929

The concept of “less is more” has moved from architecture to other arts and industries: interior and industrial design, painting and music. As a visual design movement, minimalism became popular in the 1960s as artists moved toward geometric abstraction in painting and sculpture. The artistic movement found expression in works associated with the Bauhaus school. One of the famous minimalist artists who influenced the movement was Donald Judd, whose works are full simple shapes and color combinations.

IN various fields visual arts key principle minimalism left only the essential part of the function to focus the attention of the recipient and also enhance the overall elegance. As Donald Judd said: " Shape, volume, color, surface - this is something in itself. It cannot be hidden as part of a completely different whole. Forms and materials should not change depending on their context».

In his work, Judd sought autonomy and clarity for the constructed object and the space it created.

What is “minimalist web design”?

Today, minimalism is emerging as a powerful technique in modern web design. It became popular as a reaction to the trend towards increasing complexity in design. Visual complexity has been shown to affect the user experience of a site: the more elements there are in a design, the more complex it will appear to the user. At correct use minimalism can help us focus our designs on simplifying the user's tasks. A study conducted by EyeQuant suggests that clean design results in lower bounce rates. Minimalism brought additional benefits websites, such as faster loading and better compatibility with different screen sizes.

Perhaps one of the most famous examples of minimalism in web design is Google Search. Google has prioritized the simplicity of its interfaces since its beta offering in the 1990s. The home page is designed entirely around a central search function. Everything that does not work for branding is removed.

Google's home page hasn't changed much in 15 years

The principle of simplicity may lead to the false belief that minimalism is easy to implement, but in reality it means much more than just “less.” Let's define the characteristics of minimalism.

Only important

A minimalist strategy in web design is to simplify interfaces by removing elements and content that do not support user tasks. To create a truly minimalistic interface, the designer needs to strictly organize the elements, showing only the most important ones and discarding anything that distracts users from the main thing (for example, unnecessary decoration). Every element in a design, whether image or text, has a purpose; it should not be used unless it adds further clarity to the message.

At the same time, make sure that by removing or hiding unnecessary content, you do not impede basic user tasks. The idea is to make the message clear rather than hidden. So, design around the content and leave enough visible elements(for example, main navigation) so that users do not get lost.

Negative space

It's no surprise that the most common element of minimalism is the absence of elements. Negative/White Space is a distinctive feature of minimalism; it is what gives it its impact. Negative space is simply the empty space between visual elements. Having empty space means more emphasis on the elements that are present. In Japanese culture, there is the “ma principle”: the space between objects is perceived as a means of emphasizing the value of these objects.

Although negative space is often called white, it doesn't have to be that color. Some sites use full color backgrounds.

The main design element associated with minimalism in most people's minds is negative space.

Visual characteristics

In minimalist design, every detail matters. What you decide to keep is very important.

Flat texture

Minimalism often resorts to flat textures, icons and graphic elements. Flat interfaces don't use obvious ones lighting effects, shadows, gradients, or other types of textures that could make elements appear glossy or 3D.

Minimalistic visual hierarchy with an emphasis on flat UI elements is quite common on modern websites

Catchy photographs and illustrations

Images are the most prominent form of art used in minimalist design. They provide emotional connections and create a special atmosphere. But photography or illustration must follow the principles of minimalism. The wrong image (a photo with too many details or distracting elements) will negate the benefits of the surrounding minimalistic interface and destroy the integrity of the structure.

All characteristics of minimalism must be expressed in images

Limited color scheme

Color plays a significant role in web design because it has the ability to establish both informational and emotional connections between the product and the user. Color can create visual interest or command attention without requiring any additional elements design or graphics. Designers who strive for minimalism tend to make the most of a few selected colors and often use only one color (a monochrome color scheme).

With a decrease in incoming visual information color palette becomes more visible and its impact on the user increases

Effective typography

Besides color, another major visual element is typography. Bold font instantly focuses attention on words and content, helping to create an attractive visual effect.

Use typography to convey meaning and create visual interest

Contrast

Since the goal of minimalist design is ease of use, high-contrast textiles graphic elements can be good choice. High contrast can direct the user's attention to important elements and make text more readable.

Often, minimalist designs use only one color as an accent color, highlighting the most important elements of the page.

Best examples

Because minimalist design requires the same level of clarity and functionality as "normal" design, but with fewer elements, it poses some challenges for developers.

Achieve the presence of one compositional center

The philosophy of minimalism centers on the idea of ​​designing around content: content is king, and visual structure should act as a good backdrop to it. The goal is to make the message clearer not only by eliminating distractions, but also by focusing on what's important. Wherein special meaning acquires a strong focal area.

Follow the “one concept per page” rule and center it around one visual medium

Create high expectations with the top of the screen

An area on the page that is visible before any action is required encourages users to explore the site further. To ensure this happens, you need to provide interesting, intriguing content. Place meaningful content at the top of the screen with plenty of white space around it, then add more content to the page as you scroll down.

This is what the home page of the Apple website looks like above the fold line.

Write succinct texts

Remove unnecessary items. Your text should contain only the bare minimum of words necessary to adequately convey your message.

Get rid of all unnecessary words.

Simplify navigation (but don't hide it)

Minimalism should be simple. One thing that simplifies the user experience is the ability to handle tasks easily and seamlessly. The most contributing factor to this is intuitive navigation. But navigation in a minimalistic interface is serious problem: In an attempt to remove all unnecessary elements and organize content, developers hide navigation partially or completely. Menu icon expanding full list points remains popular choice many professionals, especially in minimalist web design and mobile user interfaces (User Interface, UI). This often results in low discoverability of navigation elements. Take the hidden navigation of this site:

Quite often simple, minimalistic user interfaces carry hidden complexity. IN in this case main navigation options are hidden by default

Compare with the always-available navigation of this site:

In most cases, always visible navigation is better for users.

Remember that easy navigation is always one of the main goals of web design. If you're creating minimalist websites, make sure visitors can easily find what they need.

Use functional animation

Like any other element, animation should follow the principles of minimalism: it should be introduced subtly and only when necessary. Good animation has meaning and functionality. For example, you can use animation to save screen space (by showing hidden details on hover). The animation in the example below adds an element of discoverability and makes a common task more interesting:

Animation makes interaction with the site more dynamic.

Use minimalism in landing pages and portfolios

While the overall philosophy of minimalist, content-focused design applies to every website, sometimes the aesthetic can be inappropriate. Minimalism is well suited for creating portfolio websites and landing pages that have fairly simple goals and have a relatively small amount of content. Marie Laurent's portfolio is a typical example of what many designers would call a minimalist site.

At the same time, applying minimalism to a more complex site can be difficult. Missing important elements can be detrimental to a content-rich site (low information density forces the user to scroll further to find content). The best solution there will be a landing page created in the style of minimalism, leading to more detailed pages.

Conclusion

Minimalistic sites have a simple interface, from which unnecessary elements and content that do not support the implementation of user tasks have been removed. What's inspiring about this design is the combination of ease of use and high aesthetics: a beautiful site with easy navigation - powerful tool communications.