Minimalist Website Design
Written by Randy A. Brown WordPress Enthusiast & Technology Writer
June 1, 2023
When it comes to web design, there are lots of design philosophies to consider. Minimalist design started as an art movement in the 1940s and became popular in the 1960s. It’s found in all types of art, architecture, music, and writing. It made its way into web design as a response to the maximalism of the early 2000s. In this post, we’ll explore minimalist website design to help you decide if it’s right for your website needs.
What is Minimalist Website Design?
First, let’s define minimalist website design. It’s a design philosophy that uses as few elements as possible to create a clean and usable website. It refers to the overall layout and content design. It strips the website down to its most basic essentials to make a layout that’s succinct- only what is needed.
This is accomplished with a focus on several design concepts. Any one of these concepts alone does not make a website minimalist, but the design does become minimalist website design when most, if not all, of the concepts, are combined. Let’s explore them with examples from the WordPress repository.
Flat Design
First on our list is flat design. While it’s different from minimalist design, flat design is one of the most popular techniques used in minimalist design. Elements can use flat design without being minimalistic.
Flat design refers to the visuals used on the website and includes icons, graphics, illustrations, fonts, etc. It doesn’t use shadows, gradients, textures, or other highlights. It doesn’t attempt to look 3D. Areas of color are solid. This includes buttons, backgrounds, etc. Graphics have sharp edges. It removes all unnecessary visuals. Any lines that separate elements are fine lines.
Unfortunately, a flat design can make it difficult for users to know what is clickable. This means the flat design should be used carefully. It’s best not to stick to flat design too strictly when it comes to user interfaces. Use color, underlines, or outlines to make it obvious what’s clickable. Skeuomorphic design is a good alternative, which we’ll discuss later.
This example is the WordPress theme Ona Minimal. It includes one image with colors that match the theme, two blocks of solid color, and flat icons.














