Stress Less Web Design

We live in a busy and cluttered world. Everywhere we turn there are voices shouting for our attention – from television, the internet, our phones, billboards, street signs, and a whole host of other voices. They demand our time and our attention as though we had an endless supply of both – clamoring against each other like so many hungry puppies.
Navigating life in such a maelstrom of competing voices is exhausting. It contributes our society’s mounting stress – which leads to difficulty concentrating, health problems, and compromised immune systems. And beyond that, this stressful existence is putting a choke-hold on our relationships, creativity, and ability to focus.

Islands of Peace

Cutting through the noise and finding small islands of peace is becoming more difficult – but also more critical to leading a well-rounded life. And while I may be overstating my case a bit, web design has the power to offer a sliver of peace rather than another voice shouting from the crowd.
Web design shouldn’t contribute to the clutter, busyness, and stress of our day-to-day lives. When we’re seeking a moment of peace, we should be accosted with websites that cram too much into too little – overstuffed content, auto-play videos, and clashing colors screaming at an already stressed mind.
Instead, let our web designs be a place of calm – serving as a form of digital meditation that gives us a break from the clutter and stress. Simplified down to its essence, a website is place to take a breath and enjoy a moment of quiet. A sort of digital park bench – that also happens to sell a product or service (but doesn’t scream about it).

Less is More

Less is more – let this become the rallying cry of web designers everywhere. We can still produce top-quality designs while maintaining a sense of balance – an approach that values people’s peace of mind and trusts them to value our services. Clutter-free design has been a growing trend for the last few years, and I’m all for it. I say push it a step further and focus on creating simplistic, peaceful designs that provide a place of digital rest to a weary people.
Flat design, a limited color palette, and ample white space are all great ways to build a sense of peace into a web design. Flat design gives us a break from a world of images jumping out at us – we know we’re looking at a screen and don’t need a designer launching images at us. Flat design acknowledges its place in the world and stays there – allowing us the interact with it and not the other way around.
By limiting the color palette, a sense of cohesiveness can be achieved. Clashing colors are the visual equivalent of shouting, and there is no need for more shouting in our harried world. By choosing colors that mesh and provide a sense of belonging, we can create designs that offer unity in a divisive world.
White space creates a feeling of space and room to breathe – an important factor in a world of crowded subway cars and long lines. White space is a digital resting point, a place for a tired eye to rest for a nanosecond before moving on the next image or line of text. Web design has the perfect opportunity to offer a bit of rest through the right amount of white space and avoiding cluttered and restless images.

Getting More from Less

Of course, balanced and meditative web design is about more than just providing islands of peace to a world. It is also a powerful tool for building effective websites. It’s not just our collective health at stake, there are also profits to make and businesses to grow – we’re not unaware of that.
Creating websites that provide a peaceful user experience is a great way to find and build a loyal customer base. And beyond providing a quality experience, de-cluttered design provides a clearer path to highlighting relevant information. Building a visual hierarchy is easier, as user’s eye movements will follow a predictable path given the proper layout of white space and text size. And calls to action are cleaner, more prominent, and easier to find when working with a simplified design and structure.
There’s been a fair amount of hyperbole up to this point, but the bottom line remains the same: simple web design is good for the user and good for the business.

Meditative Web Design

We may not be monks meditating high up in a mountain monastery – but we know how to design web sites that create a sense of calm and peace (we would wear robes, but that might be pushing casual Friday a bit too far). As experts in flat design, color selection, white space usage, and user experience; we can design websites that cut through the noise and clutter of our busy lives and make an impact on consumers.
If you’re interested in stripping the clutter from your outdated website (or need a totally new one), contact us today and we’ll set up a free consultation – no strings attached. We can even play peaceful music and have a little Zen garden – if you’re into that.