- If I were a character on a television show or movie,
I'd have on point of view, the hardcore minimalist.
I'd be that character that yells and demands
that there be no knick-knacks in the house.
But as a real person, I have the luxury
of being contradictory.
I also love great maximalist work.
Maximalism isn't a design solution with a whole lot
of meaningless stuff, it's the beauty of complexity
handled with skill.
Maximalism is the opposite of minimalism in execution,
but follows the same goal of communicating the idea.
We can't say that a minimal Herbert Bayer layout
from the Bauhaus is superior to the beautiful complexity
of a Bruce Rogers arts and crafts layout.
Each is a product of skill, craft, and exquisite form.
While minimalism is thorny due to the lack of elements
for visual interest,
the challenge with maximalism is to avoid repulsing
the viewer with a mess.
The underlying structure and grid maintain order
with a composition filled to the limit.
The grid retains proportions in scale and alignment.
Within that structure, the designer needs to be fluid.
If the elements are too rigid, the approach will be stiff.
With flexibility, the elements will come together
to create a unified message and keep the sense
of quantity and excess.
It may seem that a maximalist layout has no rules,
but in addition to the underlying structure,
it's important to maintain a color palette.
You can add quite a few colors, but this restraint stops
the composition from being a free-for-all
that confuses the viewer.
This candy store branding and environmental design
by Alvin Lustig is a complex symphony of shape and color.
But the restraint of a few colors and shapes
holds it together.
In the same way, this holiday card is a quilt
of pattern and shape.
But Lou Danziger maintained the strong square grid structure
and color palette.
Another approach is to create multiples of a format.
Rather than making one flyer an event,
make 10 different ones.
Maintaining a typographic and color palette
keeps them as a unified campaign.
The communication says more exciting than just one idea.
For a solution to be maximalist, you need to contrast it
with nothing.
That is, if I fill a page with content,
it will not have the sense of excess in play
without providing an area of minimalism.
The cover for Communication Arts magazine succeeds
with a relentless addition of decorative typefaces
aligned in a strict grid and set
on a field of negative space.
Cipe Pineles' genius cover for Seventeen magazine
shows a plethora of natural objects
surrounding a young woman.
They are set against a clear, blue background.
The effect of lightness and plenty wouldn't work
set against a landscape of any background.
Both maximalism and minimalism succeed with extremes.
If you plan to pursue maximalist work,
you need to be brave and add and add and add some more.
But make sure to add some structure and color control also.
There's so much design in the world that is inoffensively
laid out with the average amount of content.
The page doesn't have too few elements or too many.
To grab the viewer's attention, you need to break free
of the expected and challenge the viewer
with a great idea in an unusual composition.