Why We Love to Hate Minimalism

The goal of Minimalism in industrial design is to strip away the unnecessary, focus on functionality, and keep things clean and uncluttered. It has roots in renown art movements like Bauhaus and De Stijl, which were all about the beauty of simplicity.

Over time, minimalism has departed its Germanic, Nordic and Japanese roots and has become a bit of a onmi-style and non-style all at once. What was once nothing has now actually become nothing.

There's a lot to love about minimalism in product design. For one thing, it can lead to more user-friendly, efficient, and timeless products. Designers that embrace minimalism make sure every feature really counts, which means products can be more intuitive and easy to use. Without extra bells and whistles, minimalist products can look super sleek and sophisticated, are typically less expensive to produce, and they won't go out of style as quickly as trendy designs.

Another perk of minimalism is that it can be more sustainable and resource-efficient. By cutting back on materials and simplifying how things are made, minimalist designs can help lessen the impact on the environment and reduce waste. That's pretty important as companies focus more and more on their environmental footprint.

But minimalism isn't all sunshine and rainbows. Some people think that by focusing too much on simplicity, products can end up lacking personality and individuality. Since we often use products to express ourselves, minimalist designs might just end up being everything to everyone, and therefore nothing particularly special. Sometimes trying to be too minimal can also mean losing features or functions that people actually want, leaving them with products that are too bare-bones or user unfriendly.

There's also the danger of minimalism becoming just another overused trend. When everyone starts jumping on the minimalist bandwagon, it's easy for the whole idea to lose its meaning and turn into "minimalism just because." It’s also easy to pump out products that completely lack creativity and character, which leads to products that look translucent or square, with white labels and Arial font…and eventually lose their human touch and usability. Gross.

Sorry, I’m ranting.

Our approach to minimalism is to balance it with core design features and product requirements incorporating usability, versatility, and aesthetics as a trifecta. Minimalist products should still do what they're supposed to do and be enjoyable to use. Designers can also think about adding some individuality and customization options, so people can make their products their own.

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