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Minimalism Vs Abstraction

Lesson 5 from: Symbol Design for Branding

Mitchel Hunt

Minimalism Vs Abstraction

Lesson 5 from: Symbol Design for Branding

Mitchel Hunt

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Lesson Info

5. Minimalism Vs Abstraction

Lesson Info

Minimalism Vs Abstraction

designers often seem to be obsessed with minimalism. And I think a lot of it has to do with this idea of perfection and simplicity. There's a famous quote from the writer of The Little Prince. He said, perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. It's a widely accepted principle of design that you can achieve greater aesthetic strength by reducing an image down to its bare essentials to the point where you need nothing more and nothing less to tell the story, minimalism doesn't necessarily mean abstraction. However, these two are related, but they are often mixed up or assumed to mean the same thing. And in order to really practice the art of minimalism or abstraction, we need to get clear on the difference, minimalism can be described as a style or technique that is characterized by extreme spareness and simplicity. Abstraction, on the other hand, can be defined as the act or process of representing intrinsic or essential c...

haracteristics of a subject. So while minimalism is concerned with reduction, abstraction is really just a form of representation. Often through simplicity, it's a way of representing something that is not specific to perceived reality. Poetry and music are a great example of how we can abstract feelings and emotions all without directly talking about those feelings or emotions. In this more visual example, you can see a photo of a frog on the left and as we move to the right. The frog is further simplified using different illustration styles. This last mark is actually a depiction of the feeling that I get when I think about frogs, they're slimy and liberty and jump around. So to me, they feel like this blob shape important to note. If we were to use the terminology we discussed surrounding brand marks, the only abstract mark here would be the last blob shape. That's because it's a pure idea and is not meant to reasonably depict a real physical object. The rest of the marks would be considered pictorial brand marks, even though they are technically abstracted images of frogs. It's confusing terminology. I know, but it's useful to know how to talk about these marks more precisely with other creatives and clients. So I want you to think about what level of abstraction you might want to use for your mark, What would be appropriate for your demographic? If it's a bank with a long history or a museum, maybe you'd want something with a lot of detail. If it's a modern clothing boutique, maybe something ultra abstract would be ideal.

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