When Minimalism Isn’t The Best Approach For Web Design

Anyone who has been involved in web design over the past few years will know that minimalism is one trend that is here to stay. Many designers have fallen in love with the idea of filling their websites with the bare minimum elements; but it is important to understand that not all situations will benefit from a minimalist design. The aim of this article is to show you those situations that call for websites that are a little busier – a trend known as anti-minimalist.

So, what is minimalism? This is, basically, a reduction in the number of elements and features of a website until only those that are the most essential remain. The situations that could actually call for a minimalist web design include websites that are based around artwork (such as photography and galleries), fashion, food and wine (such as restaurants), graphic design and even personal ones.

There are, however, a number of situations where a minimalist web design would simply not work. Not only is this because some websites call for the provision of much more information, it is also because the web would be boring if every single site took the same approach to the design. So, what sorts of websites will not benefit from a minimalist web design?

• Gaming Sites: More often than not, gaming websites are filled with information, which can make it quite difficult to reduce them down to their basic elements. The users of these sites simply want to find and play a lot of games, which means that the pages are filled with aesthetically pleasing images to attract gamers.
• Auction Sites: Likewise, these sorts of websites need to display large amounts of information. The users who peruse these sorts of sites are often part of the ‘I want it now’ generation, which means that they want to be able to browse large amounts of products in a variety of categories; the pages are also filled with advertisements.
• News Sites: In the same train of thought, websites that are used by news outlets are also required to provide users with large amounts of information in as short a time as possible. The pages of these sites are often quite busy (often with just font, although with the occasional picture) and cannot be reduced down.

Whilst minimalist web design is great for a number of applications and can really drive home the point, the above list should be proof enough that there are plenty of other situations that are completely unsuitable when it comes to embracing this trend. Some clients may think that a minimalist design is exactly what their business needs, but it is your role as the designer to determine whether this is actually going to be the case; if the site needs to provide large amounts of information, for example, busier pages are a must.