13 Apr 2015

5 key elements of minimalist design & 5 design houses excelling at it

Here at Pure, we love being part of the graphic design world, and particularly have an eye for minimal, clean design that echoes our own ethos.

Minimalist design has been in fashion for as long as graphic design has existed, but it’s modern incarnation selectively uses key design elements, such as use of space and typography, to create impact.

Here are a few of the elements we emphasize and some other designers we find are at the height of the minimal design world:

Typography

In minimalist design, typography can become so important it becomes a graphical element of its own. Simplicity rules in the extreme at Italian design house TankBoys. They embrace the idea of not only making type large, colourful, and central to design, they emphasize the shape of words, placing them in all directions.

TYPOGRAPHY tankboys-circuito-off-2010-poster-a

Bold colour

Colour can completely set the tone of a design work. This British graphic designer Ben Jeffery calls his work ‘complex simplicity’, using generous amounts of space married with subtleties of colour, such as with this Life in Colour project.

874681244311254 copy

 

Space

Space lets the design breathe and lets the main focus gain prominence. Multitalented designer David Taguy and his successful UK agency Praline makes stunning use of blocky fonts and create striking identities for everything from museum exhibitions and publications.

 

SPACE Praline

Balance

Dramatic fonts and colours are lent even more impact when they are isolated to one part of their canvas, but they must be offset by another element to be visually harmonious. This website for Australian textile design company Ink & Spindle by the Guvnor Agency creatively balances simple elements in their web page’s presentation for a serene effect.

BALANCE Ink & Spindle

Contrast

Contrast can make their typography really stand out – using mostly subtle colours, or even just black and white, alongside one or two punchy elements to create something really amazing. Just look at the impact of the simple black and white packaging for L’eaundry by Germany’s Korefe Design.

Screen Shot 2015-04-10 at 1.14.38 PM

We love clean, beautiful design here at Pure. Get in touch with us to find out how Pure can help create beautiful design for your company at hello@purepublishing.co.za.

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