This article was written by Armistice,
a blogger from the GDF (graphic design forum), currently studying. This kind of
article succours my Research document in encouraging the reality of Minimalism
not a trend instead it is basic foundation of which trend are built. This then gives
a vital significant to it as the parent of various design trends.
“Won't simplicity become banal after overexposure? - 07-25-2013, 08:02 PM
Trends come and go, but things as
basic as simplicity and ornamentation aren't trends; instead, the spectrum
between them forms part of the foundations upon which trends and styles are
built. When the Bauhaus set in motion the movement toward simplicity and form
following function in Germany between the World Wars, their
"minimalist" philosophy wasn't part of a trend. Instead, it was a
fundamental re-evaluation of antiquated western design assumptions made
obsolete by changes in society, economics and technology. This revolution in
thought wasn't based around something as ephemeral as a change in style. It was
based on logic, reasoning and what made sense in the modern world.
This new way of thinking about design was practical, economical and functional. In other words, it worked and still works. The foundations of minimalism are so solid that their basis extends beyond the changing whims of style. There is enough room, however, within the general philosophy of minimalist design for trends and styles to exist. In architecture, for example, the "International Style" of minimalism was ubiquitous from about 1950 well into the 1980s when it was undermined by a more decorative and humanist "Post-modern" style. Even post-modernism, however, is firmly rooted in minimalism since its decorative elements are functional in the sense that they address the psychological concerns of the building's occupants. In addition, decoration is expensive, so there's a solid and compelling economic basis for not straying too far from the philosophy of less being more.
In graphic design, Helvetica became the typeface most closely associated with minimal design through the '60s, '70s and '80s. But as you mentioned, people and designers get tired of overexposure to the same thing. But rather than abandoning minimal design, we just started using new minimal typefaces, like Myriad. Along the way, we all experiment with trendy things like grunge or old woodcut typefaces, but since these styles lack the solid, broad and functional underpinnings of minimalism, they really amount to detours that always seem to lead back to a more minimal and functional approach.
Myriad pro is an Adobe Original font designed by Robert
Slimbach (a type designer, who has worked at Adobe
Systems since 1987) and Carol
Twombly (an American calligrapher and typeface designer in 1992. The range
had bee4n arounf since 1990’s. Pro is a sans-serif font with Regular, Bold, Italic, Condensed, Bold Condensed,
Condensed italic, Semibold and
Semibold italic
The opposite of all this, of course, is decorative and ornamental styles that form an ever-present counterweight to minimalist design. For that matter, I think one of the defining themes in design for the past 100 years has been these two opposing currents of thought and the interplay that exists between them. I guess my bottom line, though, is that minimalism isn't a trend; it's far more basic than that since it forms part of the foundation upon which modern design exists.”
“I agree minimalism is not simply a trend, nor it new. It is a principle or philosophy of design and is the inverse of horror vacui”.
Scribe (graphic design forum) - 07-25-2013, 12:25 PM
The images below are examples of how the fonts have been used in the minimalistic principle
http://store1.adobe.com/cfusion/store/html/index.cfm?store=OLS-US&event=displayFontPackage&code=1706
