Who Is Winning in the Battle of Minimalism vs Maximalism Design?

From Maximalism to Minimalism: Tracing the Evolution of Design Aesthetics

The History of Maximalism Design

Throughout history, maximalism has served as a base for design. Details told us about the rich culture, which helped humans represent a vast spectrum of emotions — pain, suffering, joy, dilemma, celebration and countless others.

From ancient Japanese vases to the walls of Pyramids — stories are told by the expression of human experiences, a really detailed one. But this has been changing lately, with brands and pinterest searches shifting to minimal designs.

The rise of Minimalism (Design)

As the human race shifted from villages to metropolitan cities in search of work, living in apartments — shortage of spaces became common. Cluttered spaces became a hinderance to a productive life. This led the man to appreciate the less.

One can argue the existence of minimalism from the beginning of history, to which I agree but, it is now a way of life. Less clutter, Fewer Distractions, Easy micro-management through life.

Minimalism and Brands

Almost all popular brands including Apple, Pepsi, Burberry have transformed their logo over time moving towards a more contrast one with the goal — better brand visibility.

Me, following the 21st century design preferences, was too moving towards a minimalistic view of life until a post landed on my Instagram feed. It displayed two images side by side of two phone booths — one from 20th century and one from 21st century. The post argued the minimalism while being simple, losses personality. That hit me hard and that’s when I realized my love for detail and personal touch.

For me, Maximalism is not just about a lot of details, its more like adding personality. Minimalism keeps things simple, but losses personal touch somewhere along the way.

Hmm, So who is winning?

Life doesn’t have to be black and white. Both have co-existed through time. The problem is when one overwhelms the other, in this case, minimalism seems to do just that. We need to encourage and appreciate more, the small details an artist, a creator add to its creation.

Let’s not get shy adding a lot of personality when we feel like, just to be clean and minimalistic. At the same time, let’s not overcomplicate simplicity simultaneously, as functional simplicity too requires genius engineering.