Minimalism in Design

Both as a Trend and as Movement Minimalism has ascertained its influential prompt in the Design Industry.

Minimalism in various forms of Art and Design is where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features; this is done through using a limited or minimal amount of essentials to a maximum effect.

In all cases, Minimalism is eliminating elements that are considered to be unnecessary and allow the fundamental features to function in a weighed down fashion. It is the tendency to reduce to essentials. It also applies to groups or individuals practicing asceticism and the reduction of physical possessions and needs to a minimum; it also aims to simplify everything to a minimum. (Ad Reinhardt – November the 29^th 2009)

Trend: Tendency in a particular field where a group of people are focused on a common ideology. The main principle of designing will be based on minimal concepts.

Movement: This is the gradual change in technique, the change that the Movement goes through as a result of the latest technology. As we are introduced to more digital equipment design has also moved from focusing on hard copy to dominating in the digital world.

The survival of this movement or trend results from its most indispensable principles.

-          Grids

-          Typography

-          Space

-          Color

-          Basic Design Elements

This Principles are more fundamental in the Design field in general, when designing the above elements become your most basic tools of coming up with a high-quality design.

Grids - in graphic design is a way of organizing content on a page, using any combination of margins, guides, rows and columns to create alignment and unity.
Typography- the practical and artistic arrangement of type, the way in which type is laid out on a page to suit achieve the desired visual effect and best convey the meaning

Legibility	Readability
A measure of how easy it is to distinguish one letter from another in a given typeface. Legibility describes the design of a typeface. How legible a typeface is designed to be depends on its purpose. Legible typefaces usually have larger closed or open inner spaces (counters). They generally have a larger x-height, though not too large.	How easy words, phrases, and blocks of text can be read. Readability describes how a typeface is used on the page. Good typography (more readable) encourages a desire to read the copy and reduces the effort required to read and comprehend the type. The reader should not even notice the type. She should simply understand the words.

 Steven Bradley 

On May 24, 2010                                                                                                                                                                                   Archived in Web Design

Space – separation or connection of elements in a design, it creates groupings of elements, emphasis and hierarchy and improves readability and legibility in a design. Wider spaces separate elements from each other and narrower spaces connect elements to reveal relationships between them. 
Color- the response of the eye to differing wavelength of radiation within the visible spectrum.
Basic Design elements- Point: an element with a position but without an extension.
                                                Line: an element characterized by the length in direction.

Shape: an element defined by its perimeter or the shape and structure of a dimension within a    given composition.

Color: the response of the eye to differing wavelength of radiation within the visible spectrum.

This is the only trend that utilizes the most basic elements and principles, namely shape, line, space etc which then materializes to designers the affiliation it has with the elements and principles of design, the affiliation best illustrate that the trend only consist of elements and principles of design.