How Minimalism design concept can rescue you?
In the interview room, till now I was sure I was not going to be a part of the biggest consulting firm. Also, by now the interviewer has asked my opinions and views on how to design a banner/standee and my opinion on a theme, earlier to which I successfully finished a practical session where I compose a business presentation.
My BUSINESS ANALYST profile, technicalities mentioned in my resume, and huge interest in handling more complex design-related stuff could be the contributing factors behind the upcoming rejection. Just a quick brief, the profile was relevant to my skill but I think they do not want to take a risk by hiring a UX guy.
Again, back to those last moments when my final round was about to finish and I was thinking that all these people and companies, nowadays are trying to have a “Minimalistic Presentations Deck”. This is what I applied to my work and now they were discussing & trying to know more about it, I applied some of the very basic design theory using colors and fonts. This was very exceptional and I believe a company of such magnitude can only think in this segment, the rest are just on a mission to survive.
It was here when I thought of coming up with an article, where I could discuss my understanding. At least, I must get the benefit of initiating some discussion over LinkedIn or Medium where initially I was hoping to have the company’s name in my resume. Anyway, being positive is what life has taught me.
So, what is wrong with the presentation, is the title of this discussion. Why companies are showing more interest in the theory of “Simple yet effective”, why the concept “Minimalism is beyond time” attracts people but still very few practice them. Let us see what is the minimalistic design concept -
WHAT IS MINIMALISM — It deals with two words ‘Simplicity’ and ‘effectiveness’ and is applied to almost any form/style related to art. It can be considered as the very basic and fundamental component of art. It advocates the use and implementation of more white spaces with smarter design.
Let us see some WHY behind this behavior with reasons on HOW to correct them, I am categorizing the people into 3 categories which makes it easier for me to suggest some remedies to their work. Below are the 3 broader categories and discussion with remedies -
- They should never draft a presentation — I call them Dhritarashtra (in a fun way as they cannot see what is going on)
- A series of training can bring the change
- They know their work well
To this segment of people and the work they deliver, I have a short message — “Please give importance to your business presentations, they will represent your company”. This category shares a huge percentage of bad and overloaded presentations that fails to convey the core message and there is no chance their work is impressive. Often the presentations are drafted and composed by the wrong person, almost 81–90% of times this happens and with such people at work, the concept behind Minimalism dies out there itself. Almost every time this results in an overloaded business presentation with excess data and poor design.
- The reasons behind this could be a lack of either time or resources or even both. Now, people under this category emphasize more work completion than quality. There can be alignment, structuring, or poor ordering issues if such a person works. At least teach the person the “Color & Font” theory.
- The company under this is fighting to survive and there are the least possibilities they would consider or value such deliverables.
- Lack of funds to hire good professional resources
- They are completely aware of Minimalist design and try to write and put huge data as they do not believe that an infographic with minimal data can also be effective or more effective than their normal routine work.
All you need is to be aware of industry-standard, you must know what all are important and remove all those data which are not necessary. Play with colors, fonts, and structure, and see how magical the outcomes could be.
There are many companies and working professionals who take care of the Minimalistic concept in their work of design. This portion holds a good range and thinks about their approach, color theory, grids, layouts, spaces, typography, and basic color elements so as to enhance their work. They are aware of market trends and a few sessions of training and tutorials could completely change their perspective on design. They are self-aware and pay close attention to having minimal yet effective presentations. I have seen how in my previous company, my managers and other seniors conducted sessions on how to improve the business presentations. One outcome of such a discussion was to equip all those professionals who take responsibility for handling the presentation works. A smarter way to handle things.
I emphasized more bad design in my post and which is why this section of companies comes last. They are aware, that they hire professionals, especially for presentation designing, they value such professionals and this makes them the top predator in the food chain. Every corner and section of their business presentation is worth paying close attention to. Whether be grids, backgrounds, logo, typography, infographics, elements usage, or spaces and data, they value every section of their business presentation. It was due to this reason; that the interviewer was looking for some discussion with me. He appreciated my work via e-mail.
So, some suggestions based on my experience are listed below
Final Thoughts
So, either you practice these standards or keep yourself aloof from such a fundamental theory of design, depending upon you but it is impacting your business. Those who identify are the ones who correct it whereas the rest are somehow struggling to mark their presence. The best solution is to assign the presentation work to someone who genuinely likes it, it could be anyone and not necessarily be a designer or illustrator artist. Lastly, I am leaving you with some good quotes believing that they might drive you to take some initiative and make good changes
Omit needless words — William Strunk Jr. — The Elements of Design
Minimalism is beyond Time
Simplicity is the ultimate Sophistication — Leonardo Da Vinci
