Minimalist Design

Minimalism has become a modern lifestyle trend with its own media gurus promising that decluttering our homes and simplifying our lives helps us cope with an overwhelming world. Minimalist design is an influential visual style with an established history in architecture, interiors, art, graphics, fashion and almost all other areas of design.

Minimalist design is about prioritizing the essential. A minimalist building, object or interior design is reduced to its essential function, realized using limited materials, neutral colors, simple forms and avoiding excessive ornamentation to achieve a pure elegance. While the final expression of a minimalist design may seem effortlessly simple, spare as a poem and clear as a bell, this kind of powerful simplicity is not at all easy to achieve.

Minimalist design has continued to grow in popularity over the last century, but for every fan there is a maximalist critic who calls it boring or sterile, lacking imagination and heart. While minimalist architecture and product design can sometimes be cost-effective, environmentally friendly and ultimately contribute to the democratization and accessibility of good design, it has also become synonymous with a rarefied quest for the perfect object, a luxury that only the privileged few can afford, which can lead to its own perpetual excess.