Minimalism - A Designer’s Excuse

Sorry for the lack of posts, but circumstances have prevented me from being able to post.
However, the lack of posting has given me lots of time to think.
And since I have several web site designs going right now (more than I probably should), I have been thinking a lot on, well, web site design.
So, let’s examine one of today’s web trends.

Minimalism

First off, what is minimalism?

Uh…
Well…
You can’t really describe it in detail.
I’ve explored the topic before, and I received very mixed responses.

But in short, Minimalism is a web site that is stripped down to just the basics to put the focus on the content and decrease load time.
There are many other factors to consider, but I have found that the previous statement is pretty general all across the board.

The discrepancy often centers around how little is minimal, and what can be included in minimal sites.

I think it’s [JustinBlanton.com] not to minimal. Sure it might not have an identity but it still works. I think a site will be to minimal when it has bad usability. You could argue in a way that apple’s iphone is to minimal because it takes 2 click to switch programs. I am in no way saying its an unusable phone. Don’t flame me boys.
-Jonathan Solichin

RandomJabber.com and SkellieWag.org are not minimal list. They employe heavy graphic elements. Especially Radom blog you can see too busy at the side bars and at footer.
-Binh Nguyen

Ultimately, I don’t think you can put a checklist on minimalism.
Minimalism is a general category that cannot be nailed down into a science.

Ok, let’s move on.

The Excuse

Since I’m a web designer, I’m trying to immerse myself in good web design so it is always at the forefront of my brain, and thus, shows up in my designs.
In my ‘immersion,’ I’ve been following and browsing many design galleries.
In doing so, I have seen a lot of minimalist web sites.

Most of them suck.

Why?
They’re not very thought out.

Minimalist designs rely heavily on the design’s grid, the identity, colors, and a graphic (and/or photo) or two.It seems that Minimalism has turned into an excuse for designers to not design.

Minimalist designs must be very thought out and extremely effective in order to be ‘good.’

What Makes a Minimalist Site Effective?

I believe I’ve covered this before, but I can’t quite remember.
So let’s look at it again.

A Good Logo

Having a good logo increases memorability tenfold.
It defines your brand and sticks in your visitors heads.

Emphasis on the Content

This can be achieved many different ways.
Colors are often used for this.
By having the content’s background a different color than the rest of the web site will draw the eye to the content. ProBlogger is a good example of this.
Also, placing images in the post headers accomplishes the same thing - like Skelliewag.

These are just two ways to do so - but the possibilities are endless.

Simple Messages

Simple and effective messages are also very memorable.
Like how my tagline contains just three words: “Design & Blogging.” Instantly, visitors know what my web site is about. Unfortunately, the message isn’t as prominant in this design as I’d like it to be. I’ll fix that in my upcoming design.

However, Wake Up Later is an excellent example of a simple message and conveying it well.

Icons

Icons are also nice touches.
They can be memorable (especially if they’re unique icons) and they add splashes of color and imagery to the design.

Thoughts?
Is Minimalism just turning into a designer’s excuse?
How can we avoid the excuse and use Minimalism to it’s full potential?

Cartoon via World Magazine