A minimalist or “clean” approach to design may not be for everyone, but I’ve always appreciated the beauty in it. I subscribe to the ideal that less is more, and admire those who can command a grid with precision. I think in the hands of a skillful designer, typography can totally represent without the aid of a lot of graphics. Below is a collection of websites which illustrate this point very well. Let me know if you spot the trend! ;)
AI – Information Architects
iA - Information Architects
Sofa – design, interfaces and software
Sofa - Design Interfaces and Software
i love typography – typographic inspiration
i love typography
Checkout – Get a Mac. Start a store.
Checkout
p41 Studios – human centered design
P41 Studios
live.squarespace – the Squarespace team blog
Squarespace Team Blog
Garrett Dimon – designer/developer
Garrett Dimon
44Forks – From etiquette to Netiquette
44 forks
Andy Rutledge – design strategist
Andy Rutledge
Mark Boulton Design
Mark Boulton Design
The Netsetter – startups web business
The Netsetter
Konigi – user experience design
Konigi
Midmo Web Design
Midmo Design
Rodrigo Galindez – designer/author
Rodrigo Galindez
Outspoken Media – SEO, marketing and consulting
Outspoken Media
Warpspire – web design and code geekery
Warpspire
Jon Tan – creative director, Omniti
Jon Tan
Omniti – web design and development
Omniti
Phil Coffman – art director/photographer
Phil Coffman
Monday by Noon – front end developer
Monday by Noon
Chris J Davis – designer/developer
Chris J Davis
Hivelogic – lead a simpler, more mindful life
Hive Logic
Artypapers – web apps and design
Artypapers
Max Voltar – freelance interface designer
Max Voltar
Habari Project – next generation blogging
Habari Project
5thirtyone – personal blog of Derek Punsalan
5thirtyone
Upstart Blogger – guide to creating, maintaining and profiting from a blog
Upstart Blogger
Boxes and Arrows – graphic design and information architecture
Boxes and Arrows
The Grid System – the ultimate resource in grid systems
The Grid System
Additional Resources
Hungry for more? These gallery sites focus entirely on minimalist design:
First of all: Great collection of state of the art sites. Love them all.
Just one question occurred to me: Are there no “dark”, minimal sites on the net? Or was it just your chosen topic and there will be a follow up post on the dark side of the web?
Nevertheless: Thanks for this post, was a pleasure clicking through it.
@rutiso – I found very few dark themes (worth listing). White or light backgrounds were the most prevalent, which is good since I’m naturally drawn to those anyway. :) Nice idea for a subsequent post though. I’ll have to keep on the lookout!
@Jeff – Nice addition. thanks for the link.
Thank you for this round-up! Lots of beautiful designs here. I wouldn’t describe all of them as “minimal” per se, but they all seem to play in the same ballpark.
@rutiso: Here is my take on “dark and minimal”: http://tinyurl.com/oh5fx3
@Charity – Right you are. There are not much. I’ll keep you in mind and get back when I find some of them.
@Jeff – Okay, thanks. It’s on my new dark minimal sites list :)
Serene. Calming. Deep. Sometimes the less said, the better. Or as one of those old proverbs goes, don’t say a little in many words, but say a lot in a few. This post shows the same philosophy in action. Some of them were too stark for me (like the Garrett Dimon example), but most of the rest were simply beautiful.
Thank you for this round-up! Lots of beautiful designs here. I wouldn’t describe all of them as “minimal” per se, but they all seem to play in the same ballpark.
A nice display! “less is more” is absolutely right! And at last, I must point out they are excellent, expect more!