Everywhere across the web, people seem to be getting back to basics with design. Removing clutter and focusing on the simple fundamentals of good design and content delivery. The recent redesign of Shaun Inman’s site may have raised a few eyebrows but he’s only the most recent in a series of designers now seemingly favoring simplicity over fussiness.

As Shaun himself says:

“No more IFR. No more JavaScript. No more Din (!). No more single-pixel diagonal lines. No more tiny gray text on blinding white. No more miniature widgets.“

Is this just another design trend or is there another reason why designers are suddenly taking things back to basics? And as a designer, should you be giving it a go too?

I thought I’d share my perspective.

Brand new, you’re retro

Let’s just preface this by saying that there’s little in design (and life) that’s truly new or original. Old ideas are re-cycled, re-worked and re-imagined into new creations intrinsically linked to the past. Whether those ideas come from last year or last century, as designers we are by nature historians even if we like to think of ourselves as pioneers.

So, if we are currently seeing a renaissance in minimalism or simplicity in design, it’s clearly got to be seen in the context of a shifting landscape in visual communication.

Every action has a reaction

Every area of design or art has fashions or trends. The web is distinguished only by the speed of which these ideas and trends are transmitted and followed. Recent criticism of the “Web 2.0” style of sites has echoed from all corners of the internet, however it strikes me as a little pointless. It’s like saying “Hey, what’s up with music these days, all bands just sound the same” or “What about fashion? Everybody’s just wearing stripes at the minute!”

Fashions, trends, fads, whatever are a fact in all areas of design and art. It doesn’t mean originality is dead, and it doesn’t mean that value and substance can’t be found in being part of a trend.
However, with most trends comes an inevitable backlash and this has certainly been seen with the negative reaction to the “Web 2.0” style. Or has Shaun puts it:

“Less Web 2.0. More like Web Two-point-No.“

So is this return to simple designs, with subdued colour schemes and lack of garish decoration, a reaction to the shiny trappings of Web 2.0? Possibly, but I think there’s something else involved. Something more worthy than the stubborn refusal to be part of the crowd.

Just like old times

Recently I’ve been feeling the urge to challenge myself more as a designer. Part of this has involved making my own life difficult by imposing certain constraints. Working to find solutions within these constraints means I have to become better at what I do.

A classic design beginner’s mistake is to go crazy in the font shop. With so many typefaces to choose from it’s easy to get carried away downloading and experimenting with millions of lovely fonts, at the expense of really understanding the fundamentals of typography.

I read something about a year ago which I always remember, so here I am paraphrasing Mark Boulton’s college lecturer:

“Learn to live with a typeface for one or two years, try to use nothing else but that face.“

Now that’s pretty hardcore, but you can see the logic. By imposing restrictions on what design tools you have at your disposal forces you to understand those tools better, and you‘ll grow as a designer as a result.

Personally for me this has meant falling in love with Times New Roman again, a typeface that I’ve largely ignored for the past 4 years. Through forcing myself to work with this font, I am once again discovering how powerful and elegant it can be if used correctly.I’m starting to use it more and more in my designs again, and the results are great. It just took the step of moving out of my comfort zone and forcing myself to do it.

Home improvement

I think there are more and more of designers who want to challenge themselves to be better by focusing on the basics of design, by stripping away much of the traditional clutter and fuss that’s proliferated the web recently. More often than not these designers choose to do so in their personal work, where they have the opportunity to do what they like, free from the expectations of client work.

That’s why, regardless of my personal opinion of Shaun Inman’s new design, I respect the fact that he’s trying something original and pushing himself as a designer/developer. And he’s doing it in the one place where anything goes: his personal site.

This is just one aspect of why I think designers are getting back to basics with design, and I’ll cover more in part 2.