The Subtlety of 'Less is More'

For a while now a trend has caught on in the website field that says "Less is More" and this is not a new idea but it's a fairly new phenomenon to the website scene. In website communities it's called "minimalism web design". Minimalism caught on first in the American visual arts world around the 1960's with abstract arts.

The Japanese culture and Zen Philosophy is best known for minimalism, freedom and simplicity, and has been inspiring the minimalism evolution long before the 1960's. With Zen it's a type of consciousness which is conveyed. And when something is conveyed from a type of consciousness or your way of being, then it has an impact that cannot be practiced nor forced through learning techniques. It's not a learning nor a style; it's a way you're lived, a way you see life. You see it everywhere, this emptiness, this spaciousness. You understand deeply in your being and it vast importance to you that it reaches into all layers of your consciousness.

It's very obvious to me that most website designers are aware of the minimalism concept but they relate to it as a style of design that can be used. They use it to shape their design but they are not shaped by it so their designs reflect that. You must become your art piece otherwise the art is simply a construction and robotic, it's not a present aliveness or extension of you.

Most website designers have learned minimalism design but are not wise to it. It's lacking essence for them, it's just empty knowledge with no wisdom behind it. When you realize it through a discovery then it stops being a way to design websites and it becomes deeper and vaster in its meaning. The subtlety of what it actually is strikes you. It's a subtle conveying which goes way beyond "liking the minimalism style".

The idea of minimalism web design is to use vast amounts of white space. It's used to convey simplicity and make content stand out but it's surface. When it's used, it used throughout the entire website instead of using it subtlety and wisely. The minimalism web design idea points to something useful but if you're unaware of the subtleties behind the inspiration of minimalism design then it will not have the desired effect nor produce the effective results you're intending to capture.

The Development of Autonomy Design

Autonomy is an Ancient Greek word that means "auto-self". When you begin to understand how creation creates through unattached engagement by being an objective observer then you start to understand what is meant by "auto-self". It's a selfing that happens without being a self. A verb that happens without an idea of a noun doing the verbing. In a manner of speaking, it's getting out the way of yourself.

Similar to auto-writing, you're not interfering with what is happening through you. You have to surrender the idea that you are doing it and just allow the doing to unfold. All how's and why's have to leave your system and observe the verbing of the design as an objective observer. Participating by surrendering to the process at hand.

For most, this happens as a development process. First, you copy great design work and see if you can create the same result simply by looking at the design. It can be frustrating at first because you keep making mistakes.

However, if you do this enough then you start to get a feel for what makes design great and why. You start to discover that it's the mistakes which deliver fresh results because the novelty couldn't happen without the seemingly "mistakes". You start to realize that "mistakes" is how creation offers uniqueness but the uniqueness seems to only happen authentically, when trying to copy a design pattern. They go hand and hand.

It's these "mistakes" that are the gateway to autonomy. Eventually, you discover your own natural autonomy in such a way that even looking at any design offers its own inspiration (all of life is design). Design in all directions becomes grace. Bad designs can trigger inspiration just as equally as great designs because your "learning curve" is over. In other words, now you learn through your autonomy, so learning happens effortlessly simply because you're out of the way of yourself.

Expert at Flowing with Change

There are always unforeseen problems which happen because in the field of website related projects everything is constantly evolving and each system you work with has it's own structure. Even everyday web browsers which everyone is familiar with has software updates that change the layout structure by removing/adding functional options which change what you're familiar with.

Hence, in this field there is no such thing as a website master or website expert since it's a constant changing process. If anything, you are a master or expert with adapting to and flowing with change. When I use the word "website professional" what that points to is the ability to flow in and out of systems and ideas with ease.

In other words, having the ability and skill sets to quickly figure out how something is designed, thus how to work with it and operate it effectively, is actually what helps an experienced professional do things quickly, even without much knowledge about a new system that they may be working with. This also gives the professional an edge on how to change functions and systems to improve its effectiveness and add ease.

Design as a Way of Life

Design is something more than just aesthetically pleasing imaginary.
Design is a way of life. Literally it's everywhere. It's a way of being.

Nature, for example, is an evolution of creative designs which spring life.
To observe nature with curiosity and wonder, you begin to see a phenomenon.
That same phenomenon can be seen everywhere. It is within all natural systems.

It's a mixture of order and chaos. Yet, the chaos is ordered without intention or effort. Cells, for example, duplicate themselves by simply repeating the first cell's process but it does so in a chaotic manner that produces uniqueness. No too forms are ever exactly alike. Everything about your body is unique, right down to your fingerprint. Never will creation duplicate an exact replica of you.

Hence, natural systems, always find the perfect balance of functionality and creativity without trying to be functional or creative, thus there are no bad designs. Functional by repeating designs, yet beautifully creative. Complexity created through simplicity.

Human systems either have order or chaos (designed with functionality in mind or designed with creativity in mind), either or, and rarely the balanced combination of both, but when you see the phenomenal connection, it's both a curse and a gift. It's a curse because within human systems you rarely find tools, technologies and devices that are designed with balanced solutions. However, it's a gift because the solutions become obvious once you are aware of what is bad about the designs.

It's the Design that Sells your Product / Service

Professional creativity, which has the natural balance of what needed in design, does take time to create. Without really knowing it consciously, the brain naturally picks up on beauty and aesthetic pleasing designs. Also the brain can instantly register when something is just quickly thrown together. It causes unconscious or subtle suspicion, skepticism and distrust. It's the design that sells, not the actual product nor service.

As strange as it is, the brain trusts beauty and distrusts anything which is not aligned with beauty and natural symmetry, which always takes time to find that perfect balance of not too much and not too little. Like nature, a repeating themed design but new and fresh with every creation. All snowflakes are similar but uniquely creative and different. All fingerprints are similar but very unique. That's the type of natural and effective balance that professional designers look for. An overall theme that repeats but never duplicating.

The problem is that very few take the time to create designs that are magically aesthetic pleasing in such a way that the brain releases subtle emotional reactions which have small effects on serotonin levels. Most people are so used to seeing bad designs in human systems that they prefer bad design but I cannot ethically work that way. I am too passionate about this work.

Most designers let the client decide how the design will be based on what the client prefers to see but I am different in that way since I can see clearly the solution to any design project (essentially it's all design). All I need to know is what the client is looking to accomplish and I can discover the balanced solution that will have the most successful impact based on what is needed. Tell me the problem and I will find the most effective design solution. The design offered is the exact solution that is needed for the project at hand.

Website Design is a Rare Art

I remember a long time ago, in high school. My teacher told me I have a unique ability for drawing and there was a final project for art, which made up most of the grade. I wanted to impress my teacher and I wanted to use my ability that she saw in me.

I was trying to draw a picture of an up-close shot of a gorilla's face, on a national geographics cover. I wanted to draw it to look life-like. I was up all night until 4 o'clock AM in the morning. I tried everything I could to draw the perfect realistic drawing.

And then I was too tired. I stopped caring about the damned drawing, the damned grade, the damned impressing. I just wanted this to be over, so I could sleep.

I had to draw something. So I knew that this was going to be the last paper I was going to use. No more throwing away drawing papers and starting again. Whatever the final result looked like was fine by me, even before I knew what it looked like.

But when I was through with the drawing, it was so impressive that I impressed myself. Yet, I didn't feel like I did it at all, it just happened when I no longer cared and when I was not trying to do it.

This is true for website design too. The best results always happen through this development process. The more you get a feel for how to relax and allow the designing to take on a life of its own, usually through lots of effort and practice, then you discover this way of being which is aligned with an genius effortlessness that comes spontaneously through you.

At some point, you don't have to start with all the effort and practices in order to discover that place of effortless surrender to the creative process which takes on a life of its own. You find a natural surrender to the design taking its own forming force without needing to re-discover it. It's essentially a feel within that you simply tab into.

It feels like pure non-intellectual instinct or being in the zone. It feels like the most natural and ordinary way of being, nothing special. It's a not a gift, skill nor ability; it just comes to you when you open up to that space within yourself.

The process is simple but it's overlooked because it's even more simple than anything you try to do. Website designers who have this ability are rare but not because it's complicated. It's rare because it literally cannot be taught; it's discovered. Authentic website design is a rare art form, even today with all the technology advances.

Shopping cart (eCommerce) - Website

Fully functional shopping-cart eCommerce site, built on Google's Blogger.com (blogspot) platform.

Picture window-sliders.
Professional logo and matching theme.
Clean and elegant design.
Multiple picture transition in item posts.
Easy to change, update, add information and products.
Huge list of organized categories and subcategories.
Easy to empty and add items to shopping cart.


If the main domain link below stops working, due to client removing their website, switching domains with no redirect or redesigning their website, here is the draft link to the original design:
http://www.letsdealio.blogspot.com/

http://www.letsdealio.com/

Home renovations business - Website

Informational website.
They already had a logo created and needed a website design and theme to match the logo.

If the main domain link below stops working, due to client removing their website, switching domains with no redirect or redesigning their website, here is the draft link to the original design:
http://mandjexteriors.blogspot.com/





http://www.mandjexteriors.com/

Real Estate Investor (private investors) business - Informational Website

Informational and quote site for private investors real estate business.
Created logo and designed all images for site.
Color theme to match.
Registration forms.

If the main domain link below stops working, due to client removing their website, switching domains with no redirect or redesigning their website, here is the draft link to the original design:
www.azhomematters.blogspot.com




http://www.azhomematters.com/

Fashion model - Blog/ CMS

Client had several sketches and contextual ideas that I turned into reality.
Recent posts show up in 3 different sized photo frames with circular titles.
Hover and transitional effects.
Simple, clean, and professional theme.

If the main domain link below stops working, due to client removing their website, switching domains with no redirect or redesigning their website, here is the draft link to the original design:
http://alaladywolf.blogspot.com/




http://www.alaladywolf.com/

Hotel business - Website

Informational and booking site for hotel business.
Designed all images for site (minus the logo).
Color theme to match.
Picture window-sliders.
Registration forms.

If the main domain link below stops working, due to client removing their website, switching domains with no redirect or redesigning their website, here is the draft link to the original design:
http://selectinn-minot.blogspot.com/
and / or
http://selectinn.blogspot.com/




http://www.selectinn-minot.com/

Travel company - Website

Website design for V-Trip's team.
Also created French language site to match.
Logo clean up.
Picture window-slider.
Color Theme.
Registration forms.

If the main domain link below stops working, due to client removing their website, switching domains with no redirect or redesigning their website, here is the draft link to the original design:
http://vtripst.blogspot.com/




http://www.vtripstudenttravel.com/

Personal development - Blog / CMS

Visit site to see full length view

Premium template theme.
Responsive web design (RWD)
Created all animations, images/ buttons.
Quality image enhancement.
Color theme.
Hover and transitional effects.
Picture transition slider.
Hover and transitional effects.
http://hmorning.blogspot.com/