Playing with Hues and Space
Simplified design has moved past the “hipster” or “trendy” product market and finds it self on many other products. Originally, the simplified design acted as a symbol to how pure and organic the product was by how few labels it contained. The primary color juxtaposed with a hue acted as another simplified element of design in our visual processing. However, today more and more products that do not identify themselves as organic has started to market themselves the same way.
When creating logos or other graphics the simplicity of color can be achieved in staying within the hue of the color. By having a hue of your selected color as a secondary color the illusion of foreground and background is achieved. Matte versus gloss is also implied depending on how far the secondary color is from the original color. Another method to achieve the “modern look” is to omit color entirely and to have the packaging show it’s base. More and more packaging had come to embrace and plain cardboard of the package and then use a single color (or a few multiple colors) to embellish around it.
Let’s call this the cardboard revolution because the base of the material is showcased (which is often cardboard) unlike past designs where the entire surface of the package is saturated with color.
These updates in design transcend into promotional materials, business cards and web design. Of course there are little or no “bare bones” to showcase in many of these options, but what is done is implying that the web design is “closer to nature” than competitors through an effortless interface, simplified design and translucency. People want things to promise to be what they say they are and not be hidden behind paragraphs of text or small disclaimers on the labels. Overall, giving just the facts and letting the product itself be the best marketing tool can serve the organization best in this modern world.
Happy Designing.
