Design Thinking: Minimalism — A Convenient Excuse for Lazy Design?
On simplicity and sophistication
You may have heard the popular quote as I often have:
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”
And as with many popular quotes attributed to famous people, this one was probably never uttered by the lauded Italian sculptor, artist, and designer Leonardo da Vinci. But the mere fact that a quotation is mis-attributed to a famous person who never said it is less interesting than the idea itself.
The notion that simplicity represents a pinnacle in design is traceable to minimalism — stripping away the unnecessary, and leaving only the essentials. There is I suppose, an inherent attraction we have towards the uncomplicated in a complicated world.
But as with all fads, not everyone who jumps on board the bandwagon does so in good faith: from fast fashion corporations engaging in “greenwashing” to put a feel-good spin on their brand, to brands like Gillette or Nike engaging in virtue-signalling by pretending to care about issues of social justice in order to sell more stuff.
If we aren’t careful, minimalism too, can degenerate into a convenient excuse for lazy design. After all, what better way to explain the lack of useful functionalities, or the absence of critical features by appealing to a philosophy of “less is more”?
I think the best way to draw the line in the sand between minimalism and lazy design is to re-examine the supposed relationship between simplicity and sophistication.
Perhaps what these quotes get wrong about simplicity and sophistication is that they fail to distinguish between means and ends. Maybe simplicity is merely the outcome of actively seeking sophistication, rather than being an end in itself. For it is often the case that truly sophisticated design is so complex and well-packaged for the end user, that it merely appears to be simple.
The great British science fiction novelist Arthur C. Clarke is best known for his “three laws”. But Clark’s third law is perhaps the most widely known of them all:
3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Just think about the modern smartphone in the hands of a tribesperson. How do you even begin to explain how, by tapping your finger on a cold slab of shiny black glass, can you cause it to not only come alive, but talk to someone across the world? In fact, there was a Russian family that cut itself off from civilization for over 40 years, only to be discovered by Soviet geologists in 1978 in the frozen jungles of Siberia. When one of the geologists handed a man a transparent cellophane package, his bewildered response was “… it is glass, but it crumples!”.
Or take for instance a mechanical watch — the ones that never require battery changes. To the untrained eye it appears simple: its hands move and tell the time on a marked face just like any other dollar-store clock. Yet, if we only peel back the face, we become privy to the “ultimate sophistication” of precision engineering that is hidden by its elegant exterior.
Perhaps simplicity is not sophistication after all. Simplicity is merely an illusion that hides the complex workings of a truly great product.
I hope that by rethinking what minimalism means, we can distinguish between beautifully-made products that work so seamlessly as to appear like magic — and lazy design masquerading as “minimal”.
“Modern Designers, Seeking After Sophistication, Get Simplicity.”
— The New York Sun, 1936
Greater Goods is a carry goods company that is launching on Kickstarter in the middle of 2019. As the head of product, I’m always driven by the desire to marry form and function. Too often, the most beautiful leather bags and products lack the organization and accessibility of nylon backpacks and briefcases. But it is also the case that most nylon carry goods can never hold a candle to the elegant looks of leather goods. In the coming months, we’ll be revealing a minimalist wallet, padfolio, and briefcase that will hopefully change the way we carry leather goods for the better.
If you’re interested in our upcoming launch, follow us at:
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