Interview with Steven Snell about minimal web design

For the start of this blog, I asked Steven Snell of Vandelay Design and Designm.ag, if he would like to share his views on minimalism in webdesign. I am very excited that he took the time to answer my questions, because he is a highly respected figure in the design community, running the 2 very successful blogs mentioned above and a bunch of other sites. So, without further ado, here is what he has to say:

MA: Hi Steven, many thanks for taking the time to do this interview! Please give us a short introduction of yourself. Where are you from? What do you do? How long have you been active in this field?

Steven: Hi Alex, thanks for inviting me to do the interview. I am a designer and blogger from New Jersey. I’ve been designing since about 2002, much of that was just learning on my own and taking clients part-time. I started Vandelay Design about three years ago. I’ve been blogging for a little over two years.

MA: You are the man behind successful websites like Vandelay Design and Designm.ag. A few months ago, you started a collection of 5 niche gallery sites, whereas one of them called Minimal Exhibit focuses on minimal web design. How did the idea come about to start up Minimal Exhibit?

Steven: The idea to start Minimal Exhibit basically came from response to some blog posts that I’ve published at Vandelay Design. About two years ago I published a post that was a showcase of 25 minimalist websites and the response from readers was overwhelming. Since then I think I’ve published 5 more showcases in that series and readers have always appreciated the inspiration from those sites. When I was planning the network of niche galleries it was a no-brainer to include a minimal gallery.

MA: According to you, what are the most important characteristics of a great minimal website?

Steven: I think the keys include balance, spacing, whitespace, and typography.

MA: Is it safe to say that there is a new trend towards minimalism, when it comes to web design? And if so, why do you think that is?

Steven: Yeah, I think there is a trend towards minimalism in general. The Apple products are a high-profile example. Our lives are so busy and chaotic that something minimal can be quite refreshing. In terms of web design I think it’s popular for some types of sites, but not so much for others. Many of the minimal sites that you see are portfolio sites.

MA: Are you also interested in minimal design of items other than graphic or web design, like e.g. architecture or packaging?

Steven: Kind of. I don’t do other types of design, but I do appreciate inspiration from things like packaging, magazine layouts, and all kinds of design for print. I definitely pay much more attention to web design, but it’s always necessary to get some inspiration from other places.

MA: Where do you get most of your inspiration from? Is it mainly online or are there also offline sources involved?

Steven: I’d say I get most of my inspiration from online sources, mostly because I am online all day and because I run a small network of gallery sites. Just maintaining the galleries requires that I see lots of sites on a daily/weekly basis. Offline inspiration is definitely just as important, especially for creating things that are unique rather than just following web design trends. Sometimes it’s hard to get away from the computer and get other sources of inspiration. I like to keep a notebook for things like magazine covers, brochures, junk mail, anything that has something that could provide inspiration down the road.

MA: What are your 3 favorite minimal websites and can you shortly explain, why they distinguish themselves from the rest?

Steven: Wow, that’s a tough question. I’m not sure that I have favorites, but here are three that I think are exceptional.

http://www.themorningnews.org/ – I like this one because it’s a news site that has a lot of content but still manages to keep a minimalist approach. The typography and the grid-based design really stand out to me.

http://www.tinklondon.co.uk/ – Typically when you think of minimal websites you think of white, so I had to include a dark one.

http://needsupply.com/ – I really like this site because e-commerce sites rarely use a minimalist approach, but this one does it really well.

That concludes the interview and I would like to say many thanks to Steven for taking part in this! Make sure to check out Minimal Exhibit for some excellent inspiration with regards to minimal web design.