Confidential educational product company. Photo by Robert Benson.
In recent years, a renewed focus on minimalism as a design aesthetic, fashion trend, and even a lifestyle has pervaded society and pop culture. (Think Marie Kondo’s book ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up’ and the popular media duo, The Minimalists.) Perhaps this longing for simplicity can be seen as a reretreat from our complex, consumer-driven, high-tech world.
Minimalism is exemplified by the idea of “less is more” as first coined by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. This approach involves stripping a design down to its bare essentials, and casting aside any elements that do not contribute to the pure beauty or function of an object or space. Dieter Rams’ “Ten Principles of Good Design” serves as a great roadmap for the minimalist approach.