The minimalistic style in design is nowadays remarkably common. It’s origin are particularly the 20th-century art movements. Principally, the significant trigger was the rejection of the historical styles which not corresponded to the new means of production and the geometrical aesthetics that it offered.
We have been observing a similar rising trend in the digital and web design industries for several years. Below I wanted to distinguish three main reasons why this takes place and why minimalism is not a trend but a principle.
1. Content is the King!
Initially, the fast development of the Internet (launched in the 90s of the 20th century) and the digital industry resulted in the enormous growth of web pages and information at a rate that exceeds its loading time as well as the user’s perception. Globally, today the number of websites is around 1 billion. This is too much to digest for anyone. This forces creators to deliver content that is clearer, more thought-out and enables easy reception.
2. Responsive design.
Another important factor that makes that minimalism today is basically a must-have is the need for responsiveness. Despite the fact that every next generation of smartphones is faster and have a slightly larger screen, they are still much smaller than the average laptop screen and an average computer monitor. Not to mention that nowadays many pages are first viewed from mobile devices.
3. Loading time
With today’s amount of information and the significant share of mobile devices (points 1 and 2), loading time is crucial. Nobody wants to wait more than a few seconds for the web page to load. Despite the introduction of very fast mobile internet in urban agglomerations, still rather slower mobile internet at the pace of 3G stays available in many (not only rural) areas. Therefore, the transmission speed will be still important factor to consider. This factor, as well as the others, makes that minimalism is becoming an important principle in the design.